


Heart on My Sleeve

by Ireallylovepuppies101



Category: Les Schtroumpfs | The Smurfs, Trolls (2016)
Genre: Almost everyone is a dorky teenager, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Modern human AU, few other tags might be added later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-05-04 15:27:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 40,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14596032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ireallylovepuppies101/pseuds/Ireallylovepuppies101
Summary: (Thank you priestessOfNox for the amazing title and for helping me build up this AU)An encounter in the office made unexpected changes in two individuals lives. Read how Hefty and Branch's relationship starts to grow into something special and amazing.





	1. Chapter 1

Today was just a normal day in Troll Village, the happiest town around. The birds were singing, along with a good chunk of the citizens, and everyone was just so happy happy happy.

Well, almost everyone.

Sitting in the office, Branch checked his sleeve, which was turning more red every time he looked at it. Stupid jerk got a lucky hit at his nose. Thankfully he could tell it wasn't broken so he didn't have to go to the stupid nurse who couldn't do anything except give him an ice pack and tell him to walk it off.

Now he was just waiting to be picked up. He did feel kinda bad he was making Poppy walk home alone, but the asshole started it by mocking him and telling him that smiling would make him more likable.

While waiting, the Principal's personal office door opened and a familiar figure walked out. Even he knew Hefty Smurf, not on a personal level but mostly by his fame for being the star football player.

And the star basketball player.

AND the star baseball player.

Heck, the grump was pretty sure Hefty played in every school sport they had. Though he didn't really care for sports so he couldn't say for sure.

Sitting down next to Branch, Hefty glanced at him when he noticed the other's sleeve was stained in blood. Seeing his bloody and bruised nose, the star sports player reached into his pocket and held up a clean tissue. "That's quite the bloody nose you got there. Mind if I ask what happened to you?"

Eyeing the other suspiciously, Branch took the tissue and held it to his nose. "Someone was being an asshole. So I punched him in the face, and he punched back."

Looking down, Branch noticed Hefty's blue and black knuckles. "What about you? I doubt you're here for a gold star sticker."

Chuckling, Hefty rubbed his knuckles. "Someone was picking on my little bro Clumsy, he made him trip in the hallway and walked all over his homework so protective instincts took over."

Clumsy and Hefty? What were their parents thinking when naming them? "Well at least you have a more noble reason for being here. I'm lucky I wasn't suspended. Just a week of detention and getting sent home early."

Taking off his white hat, the star sports player ran his fingers through his hair. "Noble or not the school system still kinda sucks. Since I threw the first punch I'm getting sent home early too and a week of detention. Papa's going to kill me."

Humming in response, Branch didn't say anything more as the two of them sat together in silence waiting for their guardians.

Ten minutes later, Branch's ride showed up. Still dressed for work, Mayor Peppy walked into the office, looking very unhappy. Branch avoided eye contact when Peppy walked over to him with his arms crossed, a very disappointed look on his face. "Again Branch?"

Not saying anything, Branch just picked up his bag and headed for the door, throwing away the now bloody tissue. Before leaving though, he turned to Hefty. "Um, thanks for the tissue I guess."

A little surprised that the Mayor actually came to pick up Branch, Hefty nodded. "Uh, sure. No problem."

Watching the two of them leave, Hefty leaned back in his seat and continued waiting.

Since when did the Mayor of Trollvillage have a son?

________________

"This really needs to stop Branch! What happens if this happens one to many times? You could get suspended, or EXPELLED!"

Branch sank in his seat in the back of the car, not taking his eyes off of the window as he watched the road. "It's not like the stupid school will help. They're all just forgive and forget, love and peace. All of that is just a load of bull."

Sighing, Peppy glanced at his mirror to see Branch in the back seat. "I know you don't have the same outlook on life as everyone else, but please try putting in a little more effort... Imagine how upset Poppy would be without her favorite buddy going to the same school as her, and I can also tell you wouldn't like being so far apart from Poppy too."

Branch shot a quick glare at the back of Peppy's head. He was playing dirty now pulling the Poppy card on him. "It's not like I'm trying to get expelled. Everyone just needs to back off."

Pulling into the drive way, Peppy parked and turned off the car before turning to properly look at Branch. "Branch, I made a promise to take care of you. I can't keep that promise very well if you keep pushing me and everyone away."

Hesitating for a moment, Branch finally looked at his guardian in the eyes. He could see the disappointment and sadness in his eyes, all of that because of him.

"... I'll try to do better."

As the two of them got out of the car, Peppy smiled and patted Branch's shoulder. "Good. Unfortunately I still have to ground you though. So no tv or video games, and only using the computer for homework for a week."

Replying with a "Fine." once Peppy got the door unlocked, Branch headed for the basement. Which Poppy over the years has dubbed, Branch's bunker.

She wasn't exactly over exaggerating when she called it that. Branch over time turned it into an apartment/survival bunker for the possible end of the world (he may or may not have watched to much shows about the end of the world when growing up.)

There was a side of the basement full of nothing but supplies and foods that would last a long time, Branch took great pride in how crazy prepared he was.

He also took pride in his privacy. He had his own personal bathroom down there, along with a mini fridge, a toaster, microwave, and a few other items you'd expect from a person that just started living on his own.

Branch would have stayed in his bunker all the time if he and Peppy didn't have that agreement that Branch would at least come up for dinner to socialize with him and Poppy.

The grumpy teen only agreed mostly out of respect for Peppy. The man took him in, so he felt like he owed him some time to spend with him and his daughter.

Dumping his bag on the floor, Branch flopped face first into his bed, ignoring his his nose throbbed from being pressed against his pillow.

It ended up reminding him though of Hefty. He somewhat wondered how things were going for the other teen.

____________________

rubbing his red ear, Hefty closed the bedroom door behind him. Papa and Willow had a very small tolerance to trouble at school, especially when it risks Hefty's sports playing and his chance to getting a scholarship, and they made that VERY clear to him.

Being a senior in high school, and with so many sibling, getting money for college would be a bit tricky without a scholarship.

See, Hefty Smurf was part of an, extended family, and when we say extended, we MEAN extended.

Sitting down on his bed, Hefty smiled at the view of the Smurf home yard. Some of his younger siblings have gotten done with school early, Such as the quadruplets Sassette, Snappy, Slouchy, and Nat. He remembered when the four of them were dropped off when they were rambunctious toddlers. They became very attached to Papa, and for some odd reason Sassette insisted on calling him Pappy.

Hefty doesn't quite remember being brought to the Smurf Foster Home, only the stories Papa told him about when he first brought him home. He does remember very fondly though when a few others were brought home like Smurfette, Clumsy and-

"AGAIN Hefty?"

Looking away from the window, Hefty just rolled his eyes. "What, do you expect me to just let someone treat Clumsy like dirt?"

Here in the Smurf Foster home, despite how big it is, everyone still had to share a room with two of three of their siblings. Clumsy was one of Hefty's room mates, and a bit more tolerable, the other one on the other hand...

Putting his book bag down on his bed, Brainy adjusted his thick glasses as he gave his older foster brother an annoyed look. "Considering a good amount of our foster siblings go to your school, it's not your job to save Clumsy all the time. Don't you want to go to college or are you just self sabotaging yourself?"

Hefty flopped onto his back, already tired of listening to Brainy. "Not everyone is a major smartass that treasures studying and goes to college early."

Sighing, Brainy walked over to Hefty's side of the room. "Hefty, seriously. Early or not, going to college will help you a lot in life in the long run. You'll make Papa and Willow really proud of you."

Well, Brainy wasn't wrong. Papa and Willow were always proud of all of the kids, but they get especially happy when the older ones go to college, like Handy, Chef, and Baker to name a few. Even though they moved out they still come by everyday to help out at the home and help make meals for everyone.

Papa and Willow could use the help considering there's about 200 of them, and Hefty going to school after high school would help them be at ease knowing their little one was going to have a good start at life.

"I hate how you're always right."

"You guys don't call me Brainy for nothing."

Going back to his own side or the room, Brainy got to work on his college school work, leaving Hefty to think. As he was lost in his train of thought he could feel his knuckles throb from the bruises. Rubbing them, Hefty remembered the other guy in the office with him. Branch right?

He wondered what the grump was up to...


	2. Chapter 2

So, apparently Hefty never noticed before that Branch was actually in some of his classes. Maybe because Branch never spoke to anyone, at all?

Once he noticed Branch in his history class, he watched the strange grump (and not in a creepy stalker way).

Branch always kept to himself, doing his school work, finishing as fast as he can, then moving on to whatever homework he still needed to do. Never asking the teacher questions or talking to anyone during work time.

They also had gym together. Again, Branch kept to himself most of the time except when they had to partner up for some things.

When that happened, a girl with bright pink dyed hair, wearing a flowery headband, would rush over to his side.

Hefty knew that she was Poppy, daughter of the Mayor and the town princess. EVERYONE loved her, and she loved EVERYONE. She was also the queen of parties, not those reckless parties where stupid kids drink and smoke when the parents aren't home, but throwing parties to celebrate happy times and special things.

He heard that last year she was in charge of setting up Prom, he didn't go but everyone said it was pretty awesome.

Anyways, Poppy would always be by Branch's side, and Branch seemed to like her company. Even though he refused to smile, he did tend to actually speak WORDS to her.

Was that because Poppy was his sister or something? He never noticed anything about the Mayor having a son.

During lunch, Hefty sat bored at his usual table where he normally sat with Smurfette and Clumsy. Unfortunately today Smurfette was tutoring during her lunch hour and Clumsy was spending his in the nurse's office...again.

He could sit with his other foster sibling, but he was pretty sure if he sat with Vanity he'd be close to kicking his butt if the mirror obsessed teen kept talking about himself.

Hefty also learned the hard way to NEVER have lunch with Jokey. He was still trying to brush out the rest of the blue color in his mouth after Jokey swapped his milk.

his eyes wandering, Hefty stopped when he spotted the familiar head of fluffy hair and the bright pink ponytail.

The two of them were sitting at a table with a handful of other students. Branch though had his headphones on as he ate while Poppy was talking up a storm with her friends.

Watching them for a moment, Hefty shrugged to himself before picking up his tray and walking over to Branch and Poppy's table.

Once he reached it, Hefty reached out and gently tapped Branch's shoulder.

He wasn't expecting everyone sitting there to gasp in horror (with a quiet "Oh my god." from the smallest of the group) and look at him like he just made the worst mistake of his life.

Pausing the audio book he was listening to, Branch took off his headphones and gave Hefty the coldest glare he could for disturbing him. "What?"

Fighting off the urge to shudder from the glare that was freezing his soul, Hefty cleared his throat. "Um, mind if I sit with you guys?"

Staring at Hefty for a moment longer, Branch put his headphones back on and turned to his lunch. "It's a free country, sit where ever you want."

Taking that as a yes, Hefty sat across from Branch at the table, who had turned his audio book back on and was back to ignoring everyone.

Speaking of everyone, they were all staring at Hefty with wide eyes, like they just witnessed a miracle. "...What?"

The tallest of the group, with a long skinny neck and a green hat sitting on his head, whistled. "Wow, last time I bugged Branch he threatened to shove my hat down my throat. He must like you."

Looking back at Branch, Hefty wasn't to sure of that as the grump kept his full attention on his food. "Are you sure about that?"

The one with blue/green dyed hair, and hideously yellow pants, chuckled and held out his hand for Hefty to shake. "Very sure mate. Branch only sits here because Poppy insists he doesn't sit alone, and we all agreed we wouldn't bother him. The name's Creek by the way."

Shaking hands with Creek, Hefty attempted to introduce himself, but the guy wearing to much glittery clothing that it almost blinded the jock cut him off. "Oh we know you Hefty Smurf. I especially, I'm part of the cheer team that cheers during most of your games, My name's Guy, Guy Diamond."

Oh, Hefty never payed much attention to the cheer-leading team, he was well aware though that the team gladly accepted everyone willing to join... Wait, didn't Vanity always talk about this one cheerleader with the sparkly silver hair and gush about how charming and cute he was.

Was this the same guy?

Ignoring the fact that he might be hanging out with his bro's crush, Hefty was introduced to the rest of the group during lunch. Smidge, Biggy, Fuzzbert, DJ Suki, Satain and Chenille. (And people teased him about being named HEFTY.)

Once the bell rang, telling them their lunch was over, all of them got up and threw away their garbage and headed for their classes. Before Hefty could leave the cafeteria though he felt something tap his shoulder.

Turning around, he was shocked to see Branch behind him holding up their class history book. "You're in my history class right?"

A little surprised that Branch was actually willingly talking to him now, Hefty nodded. Branch hummed as he shoved his book back in his bag. "I need a study partner, and Poppy sucks at sitting down and actually studying for more then five minutes. Think you can lend a hand since we're going to be stuck in detention together after school?"

Was the school grump actually asking Hefty for help with homework? "Um, sure."

Satisfied with the answer, Branch walked to class without another word, leaving Hefty standing there.

Branch sure was an interesting guy.

He would have stood there longer if the bell didn't go off again, telling him he was late for class now.

_RIIIING!_

"SHIT!"

_______________________

Detention wasn't as bad as Hefty expected. He and Branch spent the time quietly working together, only speaking when the other got stuck on a question.

Before they knew it they were allowed to go home and started leaving the school building. "Hey, my car is parked nearby. You want a ride home?"

Branch didn't even take a moment to think about it before answering. "No thanks. I can walk."

"You sure? It's really no problem."

Branch was about to shoot down Hefty's request again, until he looked at the other's face. He had a sweet smile and it was almost as hard as saying no to it like Poppy's puppy eyes. "... How safe of a driver are you?"

"Pretty safe in my opinion. Haven't gotten a ticket yet."

Biting his lip, Branch thought it over for a little bit, before giving in with a sigh. "Fine. Thanks."

Smiling, Hefty lead Branch to where he was parked. He was a little confused by how Branch hopped into the back seat, but decided not to ask since the grumpy teen didn't seem to be in a talking mood now just by the look on his face.

Putting Branch's home address in his GPS, Hefty got Branch home in no time. "So I'll see you tomorrow then?"

In the middle of getting his seat belt off, Branch stopped and looked at Hefty. "...Sure."

Getting out of the car, Branch gave a half-hearted wave goodbye to Hefty before entering his home. Once the other was out of his sight, Hefty pulled out of the drive way and headed home.

That Branch sure was interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

It's been a couple of weeks now, and Hefty thinks he was making great progress with Branch. He actually took his headphones OFF and talked to him during lunch instead of ignoring him.

Smurfette and Clumsy also started joining them at the lunch table, all of them getting along great with the others. Smurfette and Poppy got along very well, and after getting to know Clumsy, Branch was willing to let Hefty use the first aid kit he kept inside his backpack for his younger bro. (Hefty had one too for Clumsy, he just kept it in his locker instead.)

Now that the two of them were done with detention, Hefty would actually go to Branch and Poppy's house for homework, giving the two of them a ride home after school.

Now though, Hefty and Branch were sitting in the school choir room watching Poppy's music group The Snack Pack practice.

"So how did they come up with that name for their group?"

Reading a book he brought with, Branch didn't take his eyes off of it while answering. "Inside joke during the first practice session. It involved Cooper bringing cupcakes and later everyone helping the janitor clean up smashed cupcakes off the ceiling."

Branch didn't even need to look up to know Hefty was giving him a very confused look. "I know, weird story. You had to be there for it to make sense."

While the group disgusted what songs to practice, a knock at the door caught their attention. Everyone turned and saw Smurfette walk in carefully.

"Sorry to interrupt. Hefty you left your notebook in class."

As Hefty retrieved his book from his foster sister, Poppy gasped excitedly and rushed over to Smurfette. "Do you wanna join our music group?!"

caught by surprise, Smurfette blushed from Poppy getting in her face. "What??"

Grabbing Smurfette's hand, Poppy pulled her further into the choir room. "We're always accepting new members! Hefty already said no, but what about you? Your voice is already super pretty when you talk! I bet it's AWESOME when you sing!"

Blushing even more, Smurfette brushed her hair out of her face. Poppy sure didn't hesitate when she wanted something. "Well, I guess I'm an okay singer..."

Chuckling, Hefty sat back down next to Branch. "You kidding Smurfette? You sing better then Demi Lovato."

Everyone could have sworn Poppy's eyes were shining brighter then the sun with how excited she looked. "Pleeeeaaase please please please sing something for us!"

Looking around, the whole Snack Pack was watching Smurfette with excited eyes, all except for Branch who was still reading. Next to him though Hefty gave her a thumbs up in encouragement.

Taking a deep breath, Smurfette started to sing the first song that came to mind. Thanks to Hefty she could only think of Demi Lovato songs at the moment.

"Before I fall too fast  
Kiss me quick but make it last  
So I can see how badly this will hurt me when you say goodbye"

Recognizing the song, Poppy nodded to her friends. grabbing a nearby guitar DJ Suki started strumming the strings to the song as Poppy jumped in and sang the next part.

"Keep it sweet  
Keep it slow  
Let the future pass but don't let go  
But tonight I could fall too soon into this beautiful moonlight"

Feeling a bit more confident, Smurfette smiled as she and Poppy both sang the next part together.

"But you're so hypnotizing  
You've got me laughing while I sing  
You've got me smiling in my sleep  
And I can see this unraveling  
Your love is where I'm falling  
So please don't catch me"

Getting into the song, Poppy held onto both of Smurfette's hands, carefully leading the other into a dance while Smurfette continued the song.

"See this heart won't settle down  
Like a child running scared from a clown  
I'm terrified of what you do  
My stomach screams just when I look at you"

Giggling a little, Poppy watched as Smurfette was careful not to step on her toes as they danced.

"Run far away so I can breathe  
Even though you're far from suffocating me  
But I can't get my hopes too high  
'Cause every hello ends with a goodbye"

  
"But you're so hypnotizing  
You've got me laughing while I sing  
You've got me smiling in my sleep  
And I can see this unraveling  
Your love is where I'm falling  
So please don't catch me"

The pink haired girl was a little surprised when the other started to lead the dance herself, blushing a little as the blue eyes stared into her pink ones as the two of them were singing together.

"Now you see why I'm scared  
I can't open up my heart without care  
So here I go  
It's what I feel  
For the first time in my life I know it's real

But you're so hypnotizing  
You've got me laughing while I sing  
You've got me smiling in my sleep"

Taking completely over, Smurfette started to dance faster, swooping the stunned Poppy off of her feet.

"And I can see this unraveling  
Your love is where I'm falling  
So please don't catch me

If this is love please don't break me"

Slowing down, the girl in blue and white dipped Poppy as she finished the song.

"I'm giving up so just catch me"

Hearing the music stop, Smurfette finally remembered that they weren't alone and looked up. The Snack Pack was staring at the two of them with their jaws dropped, Hefty was smiling from ear to ear, and even Branch was looking at them with an impressed expression on his face.

Squealing, Poppy wrapped her arms around Smurfette and hugged her tightly. "WOW! That was just, WOW! You've got to join us!"

Laughing at Poppy's excitement, the girl in blue and white hugged back. "Well that was pretty fun. I guess doing this won't hurt."

As the group gladly welcomed Smurfette, Hefty chuckled as he leaned back in his seat. "Those two are pretty awesome singing together huh Branch?"

Turning his head to face the other, Hefty paused at what he saw.

Branch was smiling fondly at Poppy, and not just a small smirk he'd do when he's amused, this was a genuine true smile. "Yeah, they really are."

Blushing, Hefty quickly looked away.

He was not expecting Branch's smile to give him such bad butterflies in his stomach, or for Branch to look so, cute.

________________

After everyone was done with practice, One of the snack pack members gave Smurfette a ride home while Hefty went to Poppy and Branch's place again.

Once they got there Branch went down in his bunker to grab something before they could start studying, Poppy and Hefty sat together in the living room as they waited.

During that time, Poppy glanced at Hefty, who's face was still a nice shade of pink. "You getting a little warm or something there Hefty?"

Looking away from the Bunker door, Hefty blushes a little more and shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

Staring at the other for a moment, Poppy looked at the Bunker door, then back at Hefty. A smirk slowly creeped onto her face. "You wouldn't happen to like Branch, now would you? Like REALLY like him?"

She got her answer when Hefty's face got even darker red. "Aaaaaw so cute! I could help hook you two up on a date!"

"Sh-shut up! I also don't need you're help getting a date!... But, um, what kind of stuff is Branch into?"

Making sure Branch wasn't coming, Poppy quickly leaned in and whispered. "He really likes poetry, just don't tell him I said that or he might murder me."

Before Hefty could even question that, Branch came back upstairs and sat down with them and started getting to work. Both Hefty and Poppy pretended their earlier conversation never happened and got to work as well.

Hefty stole a quick glance at Branch, who was looking down at his book and busy writing something.

Poetry huh?

___________________

Entering his shared bedroom, Brainy stopped when he felt an unexpected pressure under his shoe. Lifting his foot up he saw that he just stepped on a ball of paper, which was one of many littered all over the floor.

"Why?"

Looking up from his hand held video game, Clumsy pointed at Hefty's side of the room. "Hefty's trying to write poetry."

"Again, why?"

Ripping another piece of paper out of his notebook, Hefty crumples it up and threw it on the floor. "None of your business."

Not satisfied with that, Brainy picked up one of the papers and smoothed it out enough so he could read it. "...Obviously you have a crush on someone and you're trying to get their attention with poetry...Really bad poetry. using the same word twice doesn't count as rhyming you know."

Excited by the fact that his big foster brother has a crush, Clumsy looked at Hefty. "Who is it? Is it someone I know?"

Hefty refused to look at his bro as he felt his face heat up. "Shut up Clumsy."

"That means yes." Brainy laughed as he ducked when a paper ball was thrown at his head.

_________________

Arriving at school with Poppy, Branch took a drink of his coffee he brought to school in his to-go cup as he opened his locker, surprised when a piece of paper fell and landed on his shoe.

Swallowing, Branch picked it up and read it.

"Roses are red  
Your eyes are blue  
I think you're awesome  
From your hair to your shoe"

Closing her locker door, Poppy looked over at Branch, who was staring at the paper in his hand with a completely confused look on his face. "Whatcha got there Branch?"

Not waiting for a reply, Poppy looked over his shoulder and read the not too, cringing a little. "Wow, that's really, bad..."

Stuffing the paper in his pocket, Branch started grabbing what he needed. "I know. Who in their right mind would leave shitty poetry in my locker anyways?"

Looking around, Poppy spotted Hefty "casually" standing further down the hallway, leaning on a wall as he watched the two of them.

Making sure Branch didn't see, Poppy gave him a "Seriously???" look. His face turning red again, Hefty threw his arms up in the air and mouthed "I'm not a poet!!!" at her.


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

the anonymous poetry thing continued to show up in Branch's locker, confusing him to no ends. Who in their right mind was leaving him bad poetry in his locker?

 He never saw anyone unusual around his locker, he even checked on his locker during bathroom breaks and saw nothing.

 He was getting use to it though, even chuckling a little at the super cringy words smashed together. Honestly, what was this person thinking???

 For some weird reason Branch never threw them away. He would always shove them deep in his pockets and after school he'd tuck them away in his bedroom desk drawer.

 This was like him getting Poppy's invitations all over again, but thankfully with less glitter.

 Anyways, Today Poppy insisted over the weekend, for some random what-the-heck reason, to have a picnic party and EVERYONE WAS INVITED! Even Hefty, Smurfette, Clumsy, and who ever they walked to bring.

 Branch was also invited too, and he planned to decline. Poppy, unfortunately, was a very evil girl when she wanted to be.

 She kissed up all day Friday, making him chocolate chip pancakes, buying his lunch, offering to do his laundry for a week, and topped it off with the puppy dog eyes that no human being with a soul could refuse.

 Branch made her agree to two weeks of doing his laundry before giving in.

 At least Hefty would be there so he wouldn't be completely bored out of his skull or annoyed to death.

 The whole Snack Pack would be coming, along with two other siblings of Hefty's Branch has never met before, Brainy and Storm. Brainy was a little younger then Hefty, so Branch was a little confused at first with how he never saw him at school.

 Hefty explained that Brainy was actually already in college due to his impressive grades.

 Branch remembers seeing Storm though, she had an attitude almost as bad as him and had a tough girl act going on. She was the QUEEN of the school archery team too.

 With so many people going to the park, they all had to go in separate cars. With the extra seats in the back of his car, Hefty took Smurfette, Branch, Creek, Poppy, Brainy, Clumsy, and Storm in his car while the rest of the Snack Pack piled up in the car following them.

 Staring out the car window, Branch watched as they drove down the road, absently listening to Poppy and Creek chatting away and obnoxiously "booping" each other's nose.

 He also noticed Smurfette playing with the radio in the front seat trying to find something she liked. She stopped when she was satisfied with what she heard.

 

_"And I need you now tonight_  
_And I need you more than ever_  
_And if you only hold me tight-"_

 

Gasping in horror, both Poppy and Creek yelled. "NOT THAT SONG!"

 Swerving the car a little in alarm, Hefty quickly pulled over. "What the HELL?! Guys don't scream like that while I'm-!"

 Hefty barely noticed how Branch had turned almost ghostly pale before he quickly unbuckled and got out of the car. Sighing, Poppy got out of her seatbelt and followed him.

 Turning off the radio, Smurfette looked out the window as Poppy talked to Branch, keeping her hands firmly on his shoulders. "Is he okay?"

 Watching his friends for a moment, Creek faced forward and nodded. "He'll be fine, and I wouldn't do that if I were you Hefty."

 Stopping himself from unbuckling, Hefty looked back at the hippy. "Why? He's upset, maybe if I-"

 "He's just starting to warm up to you. Don't ruin it by butting into his personal issues. I don't even know much about it but over the years I learned that THE song is a major no. Messes up his aura big time."

 Creek tried to give a reassuring smile. "Just let Poppy handle it, the two of them grew up together so she knows what she's doing."

 Looking back out the windows, Hefty watched as Poppy hugged Branch as he was stiff in her arms. He eventually relaxed just a little though as he rested his cheek on her head of pink hair.

 Sighing, Hefty stayed put, but adjusted the radio to one of his favorite sports stations. "No more music, got it?"

 No one objected.

______________

 After Branch calmed down, he and Poppy got back in the car and the rest of the trip to the park continued in tense silence. No one dared speak a work.

 Once they got to their final destination, Poppy and the others set up the picnic stuff while Branch sat under the shade of a tree by himself.

 He had a book in his hands that he planned to read, but he wasn't really in the mood anymore

 After finishing setting up the Volley ball net, Hefty looked over at Branch who was just staring off into space, looking like he had quite a bit on his mind.

 He really wanted to help, but Creek told him not to butt into Branch's personal problems.

 That doesn't mean he can't talk to him at all though right?

 Grabbing a couple of drinks out of the cooler, Hefty walked over to where Branch was sitting and sat down near him. "Thirsty?"

 Hefty was answered by silence. Branch didn't even look his way. So the jock put the drink down next to his friend and thought of something to talk about.

 "Did I ever tell you the stupid story about when I was a kid and got this nasty fear of heights? I was about, 7-8 years old I think? and Clumsy accidently threw his ball onto the house's roof. Being the big bro I am, I insisted on climbing up and getting it. I didn't realize 3 stories looks a lot different outside of a window until Brainy yelled at me not to look down, and I did."

 Hefty waited a moment, not looking at Branch to see if he was listening or not. He did smile a little though when he heard the hiss that came from Branch opening his drink.

 After a few quiet gulps, Branch wiped his mouth and continued to stare off into the distance. "...It's hard imagining you being scared of something tough guy."

 Hefty chuckled at Branch's sarcasm. "I know, surprising but true. Thankfully I didn't get hurt, well, badly anyways. Sprained my wrist, ankle and nearly gave myself a concussion when my foot slipped and I couldn't entirely stop myself from falling. For a few years afterwards I hated heights and Papa would have to save me when I climbed to high up a tree, which would barely be a foot off the ground."

 Branch gave a small chuckle before looking at Hefty. "Why are you telling me this anyways?"

 Hefty gave a small shrug, glancing down at the book Branch was holding. "Just thought you'd get a kick out of it. So what's that book about? I've seen you reading it before."

 As Poppy unloaded the food onto the picnic blanket, the pink girl looked up and paused at what she saw. After a moment she smiled a little as she watched Branch talking to Hefty who was looking through the book he brought with.

 And here she was thinking about taking Branch home early. She had nothing to worry about.

_______________________

Her dream of cupcakes and rainbows slowly came to an end sooner then she would have liked. Groggily, Poppy cracked her eye open as the work of awake summoned her attention.

 Her room was still dark, which means the outside was dark and it wasn't a decent hour to get up and eat breakfast.

 She didn't feel like she needed to go use the little lady's room either, so her being awake now must mean only one thing.

 Branch was up.

 Putting on her flower pattern slippers, the pink girl quickly rushed downstairs towards the bunker. Once she reached it she gave a warning knock before opening the door and looking down the stairs. "Branch?"

 "Yup."

 Getting a confirm that he was awake, Poppy entered the basement and went down the stairs, seeing Branch sitting up in his bed and leaning over his knees. "Another nightmare?"

 "Yup."

 Sitting down next to Branch, Poppy managed to wiggle her way under the blankets so she could be under them as well and wrapped her arm over Branch's shoulder. "Wanna talk about it?"

 "Nope."

 Poppy gave a small sigh but accepted Branch not wishing to share. Growing up with him she learned over time that it's best not to pressure him into sharing, it only upsetted him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Something what pulling her out of dream land, and just when she was having a dream where she was a princess too!_

  _Annoyed, 5-year-old Poppy tried covering her ears with her pillow, wanting to go back to her princess dream. Seriously, and Branch complained about her being loud-_

  _Branch?_

  _Sitting up, Poppy stared at the wall across her room as she listened closely to the sound._

  _Crying._

  _It sounded like crying._

  _Getting out of bed, little Poppy rushed out her room and to the one next door. Not even bothering knocking, she opened the door and peaked inside._

  _With his face pressed hard against his pillow, 5-year-old Branch tried muffling his sobs. Not noticing the unwelcomed guest that was invading his room._

  _Walking in, Poppy moved closer to Branch's bedside carefully, not wanting to startle the other. "Branch?"_

_Surprised by the new voice, Branch lifted his head off the pillow to see who it was. After staring at Poppy for a minute Branch quickly rolled over and turned his back towards her. "Leave me alone!"_

  _"Did you have a bad dream?"_

  _"It's none of your buisness!"_

  _"Do you wanna talk about it?"_

  _"No!"_

  _"But it'll help you feel-"_

  _"LEAVE ME ALONE!"_

  _Poppy quickly closed her mouth, not wanting to get Branch angrier and louder, which would wake up her daddy for sure._

  _If Branch didn't want to talk, how could she help him?_

  _From the long period of silence, Branch assumed Poppy had left, given up in her attempt to comfort him._

  _He didn't need her comfort anyways, who the heck made it her job to chase away the boogey man?_

  _Busy trying to wipe away the endless stream of tears in his eyes, Branch was caught completely by surprise when he felt his bed move from extra weight being put on it._

  _Turning, Branch watched as Poppy got under his blankets and was momentarily blinded by the flashlight she just turned on. "Gah! Poppy what the-?!"_

  _Shushing him, Poppy pointed the flashlight at the picture book she grabbed from her room. She wasn't a good reader yet but she knew this book by heart._

  _Opening it, Poppy began "reading". "Once upon a time there was a really happy troll princess living in a really happy troll tree."_

  _Branch debated over kicking Poppy off of his bed, but it was late, he was tired, and he also didn't want to hurt Poppy..._

  _Sighing tiredly, Branch rested his head back on his pillow as Poppy continued telling the story. He heard it over 100 times ever since he moved in but at least it was a good story._

  _By the time Poppy was done, she looked over at Branch who hadn't moved in a while. a soft smile creeping in her face seeing that his eyes were closed and that he was relaxed._

  _She was about to slip out of the bed until she realized something._

  _At some point Branch put his arm around her tummy._

  _Giggling quietly, Poppy turned off her flashlight and put it and her book down on the floor before cuddling up to Branch. "Sleep tight Branch..."_

~~~~~~~~

 "Aren't we getting to old for this crap?"

 Looking away from their childhood story book, Poppy gave a dramatic gasp. "Us? To old for a princess story? NEVER."

 Branch grunted, really to tired to argue. They've been doing this since they were kids and Poppy insisted on doing this every time he had a nightmare.

 Not that Branch was complaining. He would never admit it but he kinda liked it when Poppy would know when he needed her the most.

 She always knew the best way to make him feel better when things got really hard for him.

 "Poppy?"

 "Yeah?"

 "...Thanks."

 Scooting around so she'd be laying next to him, Poppy planted a sweet kiss on Branch's forehead. "Any time."


	5. Chapter 5

Morning rolled around, not that you could tell by the windowless basement. Over the years though Branch got use to the constant darkness and his body knew when it was an appropriate time to wake up.

Poppy was gone already obviously, his bed lacking the extra warmth or the over-whelming smell of strawberries and cupcakes (Branch still couldn't figure out how Poppy always smelled like that.)

Getting up, Branch stretched his stiff body and slipped on some socks on his bare feet before heading upstairs. He was out of coffee in the Bunker so the only way he could get some was to go to the house's kitchen.

Once Branch reached the top of the stairs though, he almost regretted even getting out of bed when he felt a cold and uncomfortable squish under his foot and soaking up into his nice white sock. "Oh what the-?! POPPY!!"

sitting on the floor, Poppy looked up and smiled brightly at the sight of the grump emerging from his fortress or solitude. "Branch! My man! You're right on time! Sorry about the paint though."

Removing his now blue sock, Branch walked over and checked out what Poppy was doing.

She had every art item she owned out on the floor. Paint, crayons, pencils, markers and, ugh, GLITTER. With all of those items she was making a big eye sore of a sign.

"Go Hefty?"

Nodding, Poppy got back to work on her project. "Hefty has a big football game coming up. I thought I should be supportive when we go."

Branch raised an eyebrow at the word 'We'. "Now hold up, who said I was going?"

"Hefty invited you didn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Then you should go."

Scoffing, Branch walked to the kitchen, this time watching his step. "You invite me to stuff and 99.9% of the time I never go. I only went to the picnic thing because we made an agreement, one that'll come in handy considering I need my sock washed."

Rolling her eyes, Poppy looked in the direction of the kitchen. "Branch this isn't a party, it's a football game!"

waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, Branch grabbed his favorite coffee mug. "Which you're going to throw a party for afterwards even if our school team looses."

Pouting, Poppy continued. "Come on Branch! Hefty's your BFF! You could at least be supportive and go!"

With his freshly made coffee, the grump exited the kitchen and made his way back to the basement. "I don't have a 'BFF', Hefty's just a guy that I tollerate, and he's a guy that actually respects my personal space, unlike your friends. Besides, why the hell would he want me, the biggest asshole in the school, at his game other then the fact that we get along?"

He didn't give Poppy the chance to answer, shutting the bunker door shut behind him.

_____________________________

The day of the football game rolled around, and no matter how much Poppy bugged him about it Branch still refused to go. He had better things to do with his time then sit around with a bunch of screaming sports fans.

Opening his locker, Branch wasn't surprised when another note fell out. Picking it up, he read it over.

Oh Branch, my dear Branch.

Your attitude so bitter, but your heart so sweet.

I adore your smile more then freshly grilled meat.

Well, it was sorta getting better. Still pretty bad, but better. He was pretty sure though that whoever was writing this was trying to copy famous poetry with their own twist. Branch could tell this was based off of Oh Captain My Captain.

"Hey Branch, what's up?"

Quickly shoving the paper in his pocket, Branch looked up and saw Hefty standing next to him. "Nothing."

Hefty had a smile on his face, he couldn't help but smile after seeing Branch smirk at his poem. "So are you coming to the game tonight? It would really be awesome if you came."

Grabbing his class items, Branch paused and looked at Hefty again. "You really want ME, to be there?"

Hefty shrugged. "Sure, why not? We are friends after all."

"But I'm an asshole and, what the others have called me, a party pooper. I'm not going to be screaming and cheering like everyone else. I don't even like football."

As Branch closed his locker and turned to leave, Hefty stood in front of him, blocking his path. "I didn't invite you because I expected you to be screaming like a lunatic and covered in the team merchandise, that's Poppy's thing." Hefty's heart did a little leap as Branch snorted and scrunched up his face so he wouldn't laugh at that.

"I invited you because we're friends and you just being there is supportive enough for me. It would mean a lot if you came Branch."

The grump stared at Hefty for a minute, a little surprised by all of this. Hefty really wanted him to come to the game. "...You really consider me your friend?"

"Of coarse. Why wouldn't I?"

Looking down, Branch just gave a timid shrug. "I guess I'm just use to being acquaintances with people just because I'm around Poppy. They call me their friend, but I never considered The Snack Pack as my friends."

Hefty put his hand on Branch's shoulder, getting him to look back up at the jock. "I like hanging out with you Branch because of you, not because of Poppy. Do you want me to be your friend?"

Branch, didn't know how to answer that. He was so use to his only friend being Poppy, he never considered having more then one real friend.

Feeling his face heat up, Branch quickly removed Hefty's hand from his shoulder and moved around him. "I'll think about coming to your game. Bye."

Watching Branch leave, Hefty smiled a little, hoping he managed to reach out to his grumpy friend more.

______________________________________

"Absolutely not!"

"Aw come on Branch! It's a little face paint!"

"I got a freaking flag, I don't need that crap on my face!"

Looking up from one of the many books he brought along, Brainy raised an eyebrow as he watched Branch and Poppy fight over the face paint of the school colors. "Are they always like this when Branch isn't dealing with his personal problems?"

Smacking Brainy's shoulder for his bluntness, Smurfette nodded. "Yeah. This is their loving family relationship."

Once Branch announced that he was coming to the game with everyone, Poppy was THRILLED! Once they all got to the school Poppy dragged Branch to the merchandise stand so she could help him get into the school spirit.

She was rather disappointed when all she could get him to buy was a little hand flag.

Still, at least he was actually at the game, so after giving up with the face paint, Poppy settled for what she got out of Branch.

Once Hefty and his team got out into the field Poppy started blowing the air horn she had with her and held up the sign she made. "GO HEFTY GOOOOO!"

Rubbing his ringing ear from the air horn, Branch looked at Hefty who was looking at him with an surprised expression. Smiling a little, Branch waved then held up the flag.

Hefty's face lite up like a firework and waved back at Branch, over joyed that he came.

This was going to be his best game yet!

_______________________________

Okay, he might have jinxed it.

"Hold still!"

Sighing, Hefty leaned back on the couch at Branch and Poppy's house, letting Branch examine his sport injury during the game. "The school nurse said I was fine."

Checking over the bruise on Hefty's head, Branch scoffed. "The nurse is an idiot. You got tackled by about half of the other team! You're lucky your head wasn't crushed."

The game ended, and even with his injury their school team still managed to win.

Just like Branch expected, Poppy threw an after pizza party at their place. Not that Branch minded anymore.

After seeing Hefty go down he wanted to make sure the jock didn't have a concussion or any missed injuries.

Watching this from across the house, Brainy rolled his eyes. Hefty had worse sports injuries then this, Branch was worrying over nothing.

The real thing to worry about here was his big test he had next week that he needed to study for and he STILL wasn't back at the Smurf Home!

He was also running out of books. He read through pretty much all of the stuff he brought for the game, not expecting to go to a party. The only book he had left was an old one he had when he was a kid.

Oh well.

Taking a break from the Just Dance video game Poppy set up, Creek sat down next to Brainy while catching his breath after kicking Coopers butt at one of the more challenging songs.

Opening the can of soda he grabbed, Creek took a sip while looking over at Brainy, curious about what kind of book he was reading this time.

He was caught by surprise when he noticed that there weren't words in the book... Well, none that Creek could read with his eyes anyways.

Brainy on the other hand was going through each sentence with ease, guiding his hand over the braille.

Why did Brainy have a book in braille? Creek could have sworn he saw him reading book with his eyes instead of his hands earlier.

Did Brainy use to have to read in braille before? Other then his very thick glasses nothing seemed obviously different with Brainy's eyes, which were now looking right at him.

Goodness, was he staring?

Clearing his throat, Creek smiled a little sheepishly. "Sorry, I was just wondering about your book. What's the story about?"

Glancing down at the book in his hands for a moment, Brainy looked back up at Creek. "Oh, um, it's about these mythical blue creatures trying to save their people from an evil wizard that wants to turn all of them into gold. It's an old fairy tale book Papa gave me when I was a kid."

Humming Creek looked at the book again. "Sounds like a good read. Tell me more?"

Creek can honestly say seeing Brainy's face light up as he went on about the book was pretty gosh darn adorable. He was quite passionate as he spoke about the story and his personal opinion about the author.

This went on for quite a while until Brainy was satisfied with his explanation and personal review of the book. Creek was now kinda tempted to find the book online so he could read it himself.

Now that Brainy was done talking, he noticed Poppy and the others gathered around, humming and singing random tunes. "What are they doing?"

Looking over at his friends, Creek smiled. "They're practicing singing in acapella. Poppy's been obsessed over it ever since that Pitch Perfect movie came out so the Snack Pack has been trying to do songs like that as well. I'd like to say we're rather good."

Watching them get into tune with each other, Brainy started recognizing the song they were doing, No Place I'd Rather Be. Good Song, not something he listens to often but still good.

The young genius was caught by surprise though when he heard Creek start singing softly next to him.

"Oh  
We're a thousand miles from comfort, we have traveled land and sea  
But as long as you are with me, there's no place I'd rather be"

Looking over at Brainy, Creek gave him a smile.

"I would wait forever, exalted in the scene  
As long as I am with you, my heart continues to beat"

Sanding up, Creek started moving along to the music as he kept singing. Brainy just barely noticed Branch in the corner of his eye rolling his eyes mumbling a "Here we go." to Hefty who chuckled.

"With every step we take, Kyoto to The Bay  
Strolling so casually  
We're different and the same, gave you another name  
Switch up the batteries"

Holding out his hand to Brainy, Creek's smile grew as he nervously took it. He pulled the other to his feet and lead him in dance.

"If you gave me a chance I would take it  
It's a shot in the dark but I'll make it  
Know with all of your heart, you can't shame me  
When I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be  
Ooh ooh"

As the song went on, the Snack Pack got really into it and started to really dance along as well as they sang in acapella, all of them working to well and smoothly together.

It was almost as hypnotizing to listen to it as it was to move along with Creek's dancing.

"We staked out on a mission to find our inner peace  
Make it everlasting so nothing's incomplete  
It's easy being with you, sacred simplicity  
As long as we're together, there's no place I'd rather be

With every step we take, Kyoto to The Bay  
Strolling so casually  
We're different and the same, gave you another name  
Switch up the batteries"

Starting to figure out the movement himself, Brainy attempted to begin dancing with Creek instead of being lead by him. The taller one of the two smiled encouragingly as they continued.

If you gave me a chance I would take it  
It's a shot in the dark but I'll make it  
Know with all of your heart, you can't shame me  
When I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be

When I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be (Yeah)

Hoo  
(Be)  
Yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah-e-yeah, yeah, yeah"

the others that were singing started clapping to the song, even Hefty (and Branch half heartedly).

"If you gave me a chance I would take it  
It's a shot in the dark but I'll make it  
Know with all of your heart, you can't shame me  
When I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be  
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be"

Everyone stopped, everything went silent except for Creek's smooth voice singing the last part.

"When I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be."

Staring at Creek with wide eyes for a moment, Brainy nearly jumped out of his skin when Creek's friends clapped and some of them cheered. Remembering they had an audience the whole time, Brainy blushed awkwardly as he adjusted his glasses. "Um, you're very good at singing, and dancing..."

Creek chuckled as he watched Brainy turn redder by the second. "Thank you. You're not bad yourself when you get the hang of it. You're quite the fast learner."

The party continued after that, everyone just practicing random songs at that point. Brainy excused himself for a few minutes and went in search of a bathroom leaving Creek sitting by himself on the couch, not counting Branch and Hefty who were to distracted talking to each other.

If Creek didn't know any better he'd say those two were dating by how much they're glued to each other, and how much Branch opened up to Hefty.

Looking away from the two potential love birds, Creek looked over at the book Brainy left on the couch and noticed something resting on top of the novel.

Brainy's phone.

Looking back in the direction Brainy left, Creek hummed curiously to himself before picking up the cellular device.

___________

After the party, all of Brainy's plans to study ended up going down the toilet.

Not because they were there to long. Brainy, Hefty, Smurfette, Clumsy, and anyone else who went to Hefty's game came home right before curfew, which normally was a decent amount of time for Brainy to squeeze a little studying.

Right now though, the genius's brain was going on overdrive. He was NOT expecting tonight to go the way it did.

He couldn't stop thinking about Creek. What was up with him that he could just get out of his mind?

The singing? It was very stunning and beautiful.

The dancing? Brainy almost felt like he was flying when going along with Creek's movements.

Maybe it was because Creek actually listened to him talking? Most of his foster siblings would normally shut him up if he got into his long annoying rants about stuff they didn't understand or care about.

The only ones who actually listened were Papa, Willow, Hefty, Clumsy, and Smurfette. Though they normally had their limits, his foster parents always being busy and only having so much time to listen to him, and his closest siblings, though much nicer about it, didn't really enjoy listening to him for very long.

Creek seemed to like listening to him...

feeling his phone buzz, Brainy lifted his head off of his pillow and grabbed his phone which was resting near his head. He got a text from a number he didn't recognize.

_'Hey, It's Creek.'_

Blinking in confusion, Brainy quickly texted back.

**_'How did you get my number?_** '

_'Honestly while you were in the restroom I borrowed your phone and used it to call mine.'_

**_'...That's, a little weird. You could have lied you know and said you asked Smurfette or something.'_ **

_'Lie??? To you??? NEVER.'_

Snorting a little, Brainy made sure Hefty and Clumsy were still sleeping as he continued to text Creek.


	6. Chapter 6

 

 

 

 

"Oh pleeeeaaaaase Hefty?! Pretty please?"

Sighing in annoyance, Hefty slammed his locker shut and gave a tired glare to his foster brother Vanity. "I am not inviting Guy to study with Branch and I just so you can talk to him. If you REALLY want to meet him then why don't you just come to one of my games? He's always there with the cheer squad."

Vanity pouted as he held up his pocket mirror, looking at his reflection AGAIN. "But you have all of those, outside games, when it's dark. Not only will there be bugs threatening to bite my wonderful face, but Guy won't be able to fully see my natural beauty in those terrible field lights."

Hefty just rolled his eyes. Turns out his theory of Guy being Vanity's crush was pretty accurate. Now that Vanity knew Hefty was hanging out with Guy and his friends he was begging him to help him meet Guy personally.

"Look, if you really want to meet Guy, going to one of my games is the only good option. Poppy always throws a pizza party afterwards so Guy will be able to see your face better. Just bring bug spray or something if you're so terrified of a little mosquito bite."

Thinking it over, Vanity sighed. "Very well... Though could you at least give me a ride home after school? My friend who usually gives me a ride has a dentist appointment and you know how I hate the bus."

Hefty shrugged. "Sure, I'm sure Poppy and Branch won't mind making a stop at the house real quick... Actually, I don't think they've been to the house before."

Chuckling, Vanity put his pocket mirror away and started walking to his next class. "They're in for a surprise then."

_______________________

Branch and Poppy being surprised was putting it very mildly when arriving at the Smurf home. Since they've never been there Poppy insisted they do homework there instead of their house for once.

Said pink girl currently had her face pressed against the window of Hefty's car, staring at the Smurf home with wide eyes. "YOU LIVE IN A MANSION?!"

Chuckling, Hefty parked the car and started unbuckling. "Sorta. I'm pretty sure it use to belong to some super rich dude that died a long time ago so Papa and Willow turned it into a foster home."

Getting out of the car, Branch froze as he looked at Hefty, then glanced at Vanity who was getting out of the car as well. They didn't have much resemblance but Branch never realized they weren't blood related. "You guys are foster kids?"

Nodding, Hefty lead the others inside. "Yeah, most of us were dropped off here at a pretty young age like me, so this place has always kinda been home and we're all like family."

Walking inside, Branch and Poppy took in their surroundings. It was a surprisingly clean place considering it was full of children and teens. There was a bit of a forest looking theme to the decorations and furniture, also random little mushrooms painted on the walls, each one with a kid's name on it.

Branch easily spotted Hefty's, it being one of the first few on the wall that he saw.

Glancing into a doorway that lead to the living room, Hefty smiled and waved when he spotted Willow sitting in her rocking chair with her sowing kit and Papa helping the Quadruplets with their homework. "Hey Papa, hey Willow."

Looking up, Papa smiled at Hefty and his friends. "Welcome home Hefty, how was school today?"

Hefty patted his powerful hand on Branch's shoulder, almost making the grump loose his balance from his strength. "I've been doing better in my social studies class thanks to this awesome guy! It's cool that Branch and Poppy can stay and study right?"

Holding up her almost completed work, Willow glanced at the teenagers. "It's no problem Hefty. They can even stay for dinner if they'd like."

Branch was about to object, since having to feed so many children already must have been a challenge, until Poppy rushed over to Willow's side to inspect what the foster mother was making. "Oh my gosh is that a Smurf doll?!"

Smurf dolls were very well known in Troll Village. They were first little plush dolls that were sold at art fairs, but they became so popular that now they were being sold outside the town.

Chuckling from Poppy's excitement, Willow held up the doll. It was wearing pink overalls and had red braded hair, just like the little girl sitting with Papa. "Yes actually. It's a prototype design so far. I'm glad you like it though. You're Poppy right? Mayor Peppy's daughter?"

Going back to her friends, Poppy wrapped her arm around Branch in a surprisingly strong, and kinda painful, choke hold. (Seriously, what was with people and painful affection today?!) "Yup! And this is Branch, my awesome bro even though he doesn't like to admit he's got the coolest princess for a sister!"

Managing to break free, Branch shoved Poppy off of him. "Adopted, brother. She's not wrong about the princess thing though, since that's how everyone treats her."

Willow looked at the two, her facial expression showing that she was deep in thought.

Feeling something tug on his pants, Branch looked down and saw the little girl with red hair looking up at him. "Why do you look so angry? Did you have a bad day?"

Poppy snorted. "Nah, that's just how he looks all the time."

A little boy with a yellow T-shirt with a storm cloud on it crossed his arms. "You and Grouchy wouldn't happen to be long lost brothers would you?"

Clearing his throat, Papa gestured for the little girl to come back and sit with them. "Sassette, Snappy, let Hefty and his friends go do their homework while you finish yours."

Replying with a "Yes Papa/Pappy Smurf." the kids went back to their homework letting Branch and Poppy leave with Hefty towards his room.

As they walked up the stairs Poppy happily hummed an unknown song as Branch and Hefty talked. "Your foster parents seem pretty cool. Though are they sure they want to feed us? How many of you live here?"

"A little more then 200 of us."

Branch nearly fell when he missed a stair from the shock after receiving that information, thankfully Hefty caught him by his green vest that he was wearing due to the cooling weather outside. "It's no problem though if you eat here for dinner, they might actually be upset if you don't, Papa and Willow love showing kindness to everyone."

Entering his room, Hefty saw Clumsy sitting on his bed carefully inspecting a few scratches that were healing to make sure he didn't have to keep them covered up, and Brainy sitting at his work desk doing homework and occasionally looking at his phone.

Poppy gasped excitedly when she entered the room and saw something by Brainy's feet. "PUPPY!"

Lifting her head up, the mixed breed spotted dog started wagging her tail as Poppy rushed over and began petting her. "Oh my gosh Brainy you didn't tell us you had the cutest pet dog!"

Turning in his desk chair, Brainy adjusted his thick glasses as he looked at Poppy. "She's not a pet, Snappy is my Lab assistant...Who is also very cute."

Seeming to actually understand Brainy as he spoke, Snappy sat up and looked somewhat proud as her friend talked about her.

Branch raised an eyebrow. "Your foster parents let you guys have pets?"

Hearing his phone go off, Brainy looked at it again before closing his books and gathering his school stuff into his bag. "Again, not a pet. She actually use to be a service dog for me but she's retired now that I don't really need a service dog anymore. I'm going to head out."

As Brainy left the room with Snappy by his side Hefty called out to him. "Make sure you tell Papa and Willow where you're going!"

"I will!"

Sticking some new band aids over a few of his scratches, Clumsy waved at Poppy and Branch. "Hey guys!"

Receiving a excited "HI!" and a half hearted "Hey." from his two friends, Clumsy looked up at Hefty and held up a notebook that he had with him. "By the way Hefty, I accidently took your notebook to class today so there might be a few math problems scribbled next to your po-"

Eyes widening, Hefty quickly took his notebook back and started leading Clumsy out the door. "Oh thanks bro! How about you go hang out with Storm or something while we're busy okay?"

Not giving Clumsy a chance to answer, Hefty quickly closed the bedroom door. Ignoring how Branch was giving him a confused look and Poppy was trying not to laugh, Hefty tried his best to play it cool. "So, lets get started?"

______________

A few hours later and dinner was ready for everyone.

Dinner at the Smurf home was, interesting. There was many tables set up in the dinning area, and despite how there were so many children there, everyone was actually pretty calm and organized.

Passing food, asking for something politely, having manners you don't expect from so many kids and teens.

Sitting with Hefty, Clumsy, Storm, and Smurfette at one of the tables, Branch and Poppy enjoyed their well cooked food and chatted in peace until Willow approached them with her hands behind her back.

"Branch, Poppy, After meeting you two I was hit with some inspiration. considering this town is called Troll Village, I've been wanting to dabble a little in creating something other then Smurfs to freshen things up design wise. So after meeting you two..."

pulling her hands out from behind her, Willow held up two quickly put together prototype dolls that were still under construction.

One was pink with blue cloth wrapped and pinned to it like a dress that still needed to be finished, it already had a smile worthy of Poppy sown into it's face.

The other was gray, a pair of brown pants were already on the thing, and it had a scowl on it's face, matching the one that was on Branch's face right now.

Clumsy snorted and started giggling a little. "You got Branch's facial expression down perfectly."

Shooting Clumsy a glare, Branch looked back at the gray doll. "You made little troll dolls of US?"

Nodding, Willow inspected her handy work. "I make Smurf dolls inspired by all my beloved children. Seeing you two gave me such amazing ideas. As you can see they're still a work in progress. I need to add the hair and finish the clothing, I'm thinking a cute little vest for yours Branch."

As Branch looked down at his own vest, Poppy squealed excitedly, smiling so brightly it could blind someone if looking at it directly. "I'M SO CUUUUUTE! Oh my gosh Willow this is so amazing!!"

The foster mother chuckled and thanked Poppy. Looking back at Branch, worry set in as she saw how Branch still didn't seem to like his. "They're still a work in progress and only prototypes. With your permission, I'd like to keep working on them."

Poppy nodded excitedly. "ABSOLUTELY!"

Looking at Willow and her hopeful eyes, Branch sighed and shrugged. "Go ahead."

Giving a soft smile, Willow thanked the two before walking off. Hefty looked at Branch who still seemed kinda bothered. "I thought your doll was cool. You should see mine, Willow got my muscles perfectly."

Rolling his eyes, Branch ignored how the jock next to him rolled up his sleeves and started to flex. "It's cool, I guess it just threw me off a little, seeing a little angry troll me."

Clumsy scratched his head in confusion. "But, you're always angry-"

_kick!_

Yelping in alarm, Clumsy rubbed his leg as he pouted at Storm.

Once they finished dinner Peppy showed up to pick up his kids. Once he was done saying bye to his friends, Hefty walked around his home, smiling and offering a hello to his foster siblings that passed him and greeted him.

entering the living room, Hefty spotted Willow's two new troll creations, both of them having a little more work done on them.

Branch's had the almost done vest on, looking very cute. Just like his real self.

Hefty supposed he could understand why Branch didn't really like his troll design. Willow had a strange way of reading people and reflecting who they are onto a toy.

Though it didn't take Willow's impressive people reading skills to tell Branch wasn't happy, and Hefty wanted to change that.

Branch deserves to be happy.

 

_______

-Smurf and Troll dolls idea by PriestressOfNox. You, are a genius. :D


	7. Chapter 7

_SCREEEEEEECH_

**"GRANDMA!"**

_CRASH!_

Eyes snapping open, Branch gasped and bolted up in his bed.

Feeling a cold sweat drip down his forehead, the teen breathed hard as he looked around the dark room. Everything looked the same as he closed his eyes, the only difference was that the time on his alarm clock read 5 a.m. instead of 12 a.m.

Well, so much for sleeping in this weekend.

Turning on his bedside lamp, Branch tried to ignore how his hands shook and continued to take deep breaths to calm himself.

That, nightmare was pretty bad. Very vivid. Almost like it happened again...

Hearing a knock at his door, Branch quickly rubbed at his eyes before Poppy came in. Damn her freaking spider-sense.

"Branch, are you okay?"

Getting out of bed, Branch walked over to the foot of the stairs, making Poppy stop in her descent. "Honestly no, but you don't need to do our stupid nightmare routine. I'm not going back to sleep."

Confused, Poppy watched as Branch went around his room grabbing his clothes from the stairs. "You should get more sleep Branch..."

Throwing off his sweat soaked shirt, Branch threw on a clean batman T-shirt before slipping on his grey hoody and his green vest. "I'll sleep later, I need to do something though...Alone."

Understanding what that something was, Poppy sighed in defeat. "Okay... Don't stay out long alright? When you get back there will be a plate of extra chocolate chip pancakes with a wipe cream smiley for you."

Watching as Poppy went back upstairs, Branch sighed as he finished changing his clothes and headed out.

______________

It's funny when in such a large house with such a large supply of food, they could still loose track of how much of the little things they had. Like eggs.

Being such a good son, Hefty offered to go to the store at 7 a.m. on a weekend to pick up a billion things of eggs.

Yawning tiredly, Hefty focused on getting home soon so he could get a bit more sleep before breakfast was ready. This week's practices for his games has taken his toal on him and he was pretty worn out.

Pulling up to a red light, the jock noticed movement in the corner of his eye and looked out the window, surprised by what he saw.

Rolling down his window, Hefty called out to the figure with his back turned to him. "BRANCH!"

_______________

Well, even if there wasn't a decent flower shop open this time of day, Branch was sure such a small park wouldn't care about a few missing flowers in the garden.

He wasn't so sure she would approve though if she was really watching over him. Grandma taught him not to take things that didn't belong to him.

Maybe he'd go back later and put in new flowers to make up for it...

Entering the cemetery, Branch kept walking until he found the familiar gravestone. Getting down on his knees, Branch gently put the flowers down on the ground in front of the stone, under the name Rosiepuff.

"Hi Grandma...Sorry it's been a while, and sorry I took these flowers from the little park near Peppy's house. I promise I'll buy new ones and replace them."

Ignoring how the morning dew was soaking into his pants, Branch talked about events that happened since his last visit. Nearly an hour went buy before he was about finished.

"I honestly don't get why Hefty is trying so hard to be my friend, I'm just a jerk who keeps pushing everyone away. He's almost as stubborn as Poppy...Almost. I'm sure you remember how Poppy managed to convince you to give us cookies before dinner when we were like, 4."

Pulling out his phone, Branch looked at the time. If he left now he should be able to make it back to the house right when Poppy starts making breakfast.

"I have to get going. I promised Poppy I'd be back at the house later...I love you Grandma."

Standing up, Branch touched his lips before softly touching the gravestone and turning to leave.

He was a few blocks away from the house, deep in thought about many things and unaware of the familiar car pulling up at the stop light he just passed.

"BRANCH!"

Snapping his head up at the call of his name, Branch turned around and finally noticed the car that was now pulling up to him.

Pulling over, Hefty parked the car and got out. He opened his mouth to ask what Branch was doing out so early when he noticed how red his friend's eyes were. "Hey, you okay?"

Blushing in embarrassment that Hefty found him while he was a mess like this, Branch rubbed at his tired eyes. "I'm fine, just tired. What are you doing here at this time of day?"

The jock pointed at the car window where you could see a bunch of bags sitting in the back seats. "Egg run for Papa and Willow. Hey if you want I can give you a ride home-"

"NO!"

Startled a little by Branch's outburst, Hefty looked at his friend, who was now glaring at him and looking like he just stepped into a walk in freezer by how he was trying, and failing, not to shudder.

"No... Thank you, but no. I can walk."

Remembering back to the picnic, Hefty fought off the urge to ask Branch if he was really okay. Pressuring Branch would only push him away at this point. "Okay, no driving. How about I walk home with you then? It's like a 20 minute walk to your place from here right?"

Branch sighed and just continued walking, ignoring as Hefty followed him.

"...When I was about 12, my bros and I found this old abandoned house in the woods near the Smurf home. My older bros tried telling me it was haunted but I insisted I wasn't scared of ghosts and that I could punch-"

"Stop."

"Huh?"

Groaning in frustration, Branch rubbed his head which was starting to throb from the lack of sleep. "I know what you're doing now. I don't need your pity or your silly story distractions. So stop giving a shit about my stupid issues and just go home."

They walked in intense silence for a while, until Branch felt Hefty's powerful hand wrap around his wrist.

Before he could yell at Hefty to let go he looked up at Hefty's face and his words stopped before they could come to the surface. Hefty's grip on his wrist was gentle and his eyes looked at him softly.

"Branch, I don't pity you. I may not know what you're going through right now and I'm not going to ask you what it is, but do know that I care about you and I don't want to see you hurting alone. If you ever need someone at any given moment, don't hesitate on asking me for help. I want to be there for you Branch."

Staring deeply into Hefty's eyes, Branch felt his face warm up as he finally looked away and pulled his arm free from Hefty's hand. "... You're a good friend Hefty. I'll never understand why you try so hard with me though."

Hefty smiled. "Because you're a good person Branch, you may hide it well, and I mean REALLY well, but deep down you really care about everyone around you even if you don't show it."

Branch's face remained a nice shade of red as they finished their walk back to the house. Saying their goodbyes Hefty watched as Branch disappeared behind the door, only looking away when he felt his phone go off and grabbed it to see he got a text from Smurfette.

_'Hey, Papa and Willow are wondering what's taking you so long. Everything okay?'_

**_'Yeah, I just didn't pay attention to how much gas I had. I need to push my car to the closest gas station. I'll be home soon.'_ **

_'Wow, that sucks. I'll tell Papa and Willow, see you later then.'_

**_'Okay.'_ **

Putting his phone away, Hefty made his way back to his car so he could get those eggs home.

_____________

Peaking through the door's window, Branch watches as Hefty texted someone on his phone before he walked back to where he parked his car. Sighing, the grump ran his fingers through his messy hair as he walked to the kitchen.

Already sitting at the table, Poppy and Peppy looked up from their breakfast as Branch entered the room. Peppy smiled at his adopted child. "Good morning Branch."

Mumbling a good morning, Branch sat down at his spot at the table, half heartedly trying to swat away Peppy's hand as he ruffled up his hair.

True to Poppy's word, she made Branch extra chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, with a big whip cream smile and a pointy strawberry nose. "Thanks for making this Poppy."

Stuffing her face with sprinkle covered pancakes drowned in syrup, Poppy gave a thumbs up since her mouth was to full to speak.

Chuckling, Branch grabbed his eating utensils and started digging in as well.


	8. Chapter 8

Looking around carefully to make sure no one was watching, Hefty casually walked over to Branch's locker and quickly shoved another poem into it. The jock thinks this one was his best one yet so he hopes Branch likes it-

"Hefty?"

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Hefty quickly turned around and saw Branch who had his eyebrow raised as he looked at him confused. "Why are you standing by my locker?"

Praying Branch didn't see him stick the note in there, Hefty tried fighting off the heat spreading across his face. "I um, just thought I'd wait for you here. We're studying at your place tonight after all so I thought, what the heck?"

Still looking rather confused at Hefty and by the way he's acting, Branch just shrugged and opened his locker, not surprised when a note fell out again.

Picking it up, Branch read it over.

You're the most beautiful Branch on a tree.

So strong and amazing, you're perfect to me.

Branch snorted in amusement and shoved the paper into his pocket. Who ever was writing this was getting a little better. They still sucked at it, but the poem was better.

Grabbing his things, Branch closed his locker and turned back to Hefty. "Poppy's staying after school for practice and Peppy's working late, so it's going to be just you and me tonight. Want to pick up a pizza on our way?"

Smiling at the idea of him and Branch getting some alone time together, Hefty nodded. "Sure, I'll buy."

"No, I'll buy. It was my idea."

"How about we both pay 50/50?"

Branch gave Hefty an annoyed look as he was smirking back at him. This guy sure was determined to get what he wanted. "Fine. 50/50 for the pizza but I'm buying whatever soda we get."

Hefty chuckled. "Whatever you say Branch.

_____________

After getting the pizza, and Branch cussing Hefty out for buying the soda himself instead, they both arrived at the house and got to work as they ate together.

Taking a bite from his second slice, Hefty looked over what he wrote down, feeling a bit unsure of his answer. "I'm not sure if I got that one right..."

Finishing up his cup of soda, Branch looked down at Hefty's paper. "Nah I think you got it. If not then I got that wrong too."

Humming a little in thought, Hefty looked at Branch's now empty cup. "Want me to get you more soda?"

"Sure, thanks."

Taking Branch's cup, Hefty disappeared into the other room while the grump looked over Hefty's paper and his answers. They all seemed okay to Branch, Hefty wrote it into his own words so it wouldn't look like he was copying right out of the book, and he had decent handwriting so the teacher would be able to read it clearly.

Hefty's handwriting actually looked kinda familiar...

Pulling out the note he shoved into his pocket, Branch held it up and compared it to Hefty's work sheet. His eyes widening when he realizes they look exactly the same.

Getting up from his seat on the couch, Branch rushed to his Bunker, ignoring when Hefty called out to him confused.

Reaching his desk, Branch opened the drawer where he kept all of the poems he's been getting.

Rushing down the stairs, Hefty spotted Branch looking at something with a shocked expression. "Branch? Are you okay?"

Looking up at Hefty, Branch held up the poem he just got today and Hefty's homework. "Are you the one doing all of this?"

Shit, busted.

"Um, I uh-"

"Is this some kind of joke?!"

Surprised, Hefty looked at Branch who was now glaring at him. "Was all that friend shit just so you could prank me? How much is someone paying you to pull this off on the schools biggest asshole?!"

The jock's heart started to ache. Branch actually thought the only reason someone would like him was to prank him? "Branch no! This isn't a prank! Those are for real. I worked really hard on them and, everything I wrote is true."

Branch continued to glare as Hefty walked up to him and rested his hands on Branch's shoulders. "I would never lie to you about being friends. I really want to be your friend even if you don't like me back... Just know that even if you don't return the feelings I still think you're amazing and beautiful."

Everything went silent. Branch continued to stare deep into Hefty's bright blue eyes, trying to tell if he was lying. He then looked over at his desk, looking at all of the notes Hefty wrote.

".... Do you really mean that?"

"Absolutely."

"I'm an asshole."

"That doesn't mean you're not a good person."

"There are better people then me."

"Not to me."

Looking back at Hefty, Branch saw how the jock was looking at him with hopeful eyes.

Hefty really liked him?

Shifting around awkwardly, Branch avoided eye contact. "Maybe we should see a movie or something before you go saying that..."

Hefty got the biggest, dorkiest smile on his face that Branch has ever seen on the school sport star. "Really?! W-well that's an awesome idea! What movie do you want to see?"

Branch's face heated up. God Hefty was to damn excited over this. "I don't know, I already saw most of the good movies and we're not old enough to see Deadpool 2..."

Thinking more about it, Hefty came up with an idea. "How about instead of a movie we go to the park near my place, have a picnic and walk around?"

Well, that did sound cheaper then seeing a movie and eating over priced junk food. "Fine. We can do it this weekend... Lets go back upstairs and finish our homework."

As the two of them headed back to the living room, Branch paused for a moment when a question came to mind. "How did you know I like poetry anyways?"

"Uuuum-"

"It was Poppy wasn't it?"

The sheepish smile Hefty gave was answer enough for Branch who sighed in annoyance. "I am going to end her."

_______________________

Once Poppy got home it took Hefty holding Branch back and Poppy giving the biggest puppy-eyed sorry she could give for telling about his secret love of poetry for Branch NOT to end her. He did how ever hide Poppy's supply of glitter glue as punishment and refused to tell her where it was until he was satisfied with the punishment.

When it was time for Hefty to go, Branch walked him to his car so they could talk privately without the pink princess of the house hearing. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Throwing his backpack into the passenger seat, Hefty smiled at Branch. "Yup. Are we still good for this weekend? Saturday?"

Branch timidly nodded as a response. Feeling a little bit of courage, Hefty carefully grabbed Branch's hand and planted a gentle kiss on it. "It's a date then."

Blushing hard, Branch yanked his hand out of Hefty's grip. "You're a sap, you know that?"

Chuckling, Hefty got into his car and buckled up. "I know, see you later Branch."

Once Hefty closed the door, he turned on his car and pulled out of the drive way. As Branch watched as Hefty drove home, he was caught off guard when Poppy tackled him from behind, wrapping her arms around him. "I'M SO PROUD OF YOOOOUUUUU! OMG WE COULD GO ON DOUBLE DATES NOW!"

Rolling his eyes, Branch forced Poppy to let go of him and headed back inside. "1. It's just one date. 2. Even if we continue dating YOU would need a date."

Ignoring the first part, Poppy took what Branch said into consideration. "True, I do need to get back into the dating game...Oh! How about Smurfette? She's super cool and cute!"

Replying with a "Whatever." Branch went inside and disappeared down into the Bunker. Once he reached his bed he flopped onto his back and thought about the events that just happened.

Hefty liked him.

Feeling his face heat up, the grump grabbed his pillow and groaned into it. Hefty freaking LIKED him and Branch couldn't understand WHY. He's the biggest asshole in Troll Village!

Well, hopefully Hefty would see that after their first date. He just started to like hanging out with the jock, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt his feelings, but if the date doesn't go well like Branch expects then maybe he should just get use to Poppy being his only friend again...

____________________

That weekend, pulling into Poppy and Branch's driveway, Hefty took a deep breath to calm his nerves as he parked. Today was the day, and he needed to make it perfect.

Walking up to the door, the jock smoothed out his nice blue shirt and knocked on the door, jumping a little at the loud THUD from inside.

"POPPY ENOUGH!"

"Branch come on I'm trying to help you look nice!"

"YOU KEEP THAT BRUSH AWAY OR SO HELP ME YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOUR FAVORITE SCISSORS AGAIN!"

"YOU MONSTER! Ugh, fine. Have fun!"

Before Hefty could blink Branch opened and slammed the door shut behind him. The jock had to bite his lip once he got a good look at his date.

Branch's usually messy black hair was brushed out so nicely and he was dressed like they were going to go to the fanciest restaurant in town.

Seeing Hefty's amused face, Branch huffed in frustration and messed up his stupid looking hair. "This was all Poppy's doing. I look like an idiot."

Letting a chuckle escape, Hefty walked back to his car and grabbed something from the back seat, handing it to Branch. "You can put this on, should help you look more like you're not going to homecoming."

Taking it, Branch looked the item over. It was Hefty's school letterman jacket. "Dude, only girlfriends wear these for their sport star boyfriends."

Rolling his eyes, Hefty held the back car door open for Branch. "Well it's either that or you walk around in public looking like that. Your choice."

After a moment of considering his options, the grump eventually slipped on the stupid jacket before getting into the car... The jacket was surprisingly comfy, no wonder jocks wear them all the time.

Once Hefty closed the door for Branch and got into the car himself, he started it up and began driving, excited to show Branch his surprise for him.

__________

"You better not make me fall."

It took a lot of convincing, but Hefty finally got Branch to agree to closing his eyes once they arrived at the park. Now Hefty held Branch's hands as he lead him up a hill. "I won't, I promise. I just want to surprise you."

Once at the top of the hill, Hefty made Branch stop walking, waving his hand in front of Branch's eyes to make sure he wasn't looking. "Okay, you can open your- OH COME ON!"

Opening his eyes in alarm, Branch saw Hefty looking pissed off at what he saw. Looking where the jock was looking, Branch understood why.

Squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, birds, and other animals in the park had found Hefty's picnic set up and were currently eating everything out of the destroyed basket sitting on the now dirty blanket. "Hefty honestly what did you expect? Leaving food out in the middle of a park?"

Groaning, Hefty sat down in the dirt in defeat. "Man... I worked really hard on all of that too. I thought you'd like it."

Okay, Branch was starting to feel a little bad now. Hefty was honestly trying hard to impress him and Branch was kinda being an ass about his failed attempt.

Kneeling down next to the jock, Branch shrugged. "I don't really care about fancy dates anyways, but thanks for trying... I'm sure those little guys are appreciating your hard work."

Hefty snorted in amusement at the grump's attempt to cheer him up. "Thanks. So, what do you want to do now?"

Looking around, Branch spotted something across the street from where they were and a smirk formed on his face. "You like Taco Bell?"

________________

"-and the whole time Poppy was just singing her little, what did she call it? Get Back Up Again song, I was following her and making sure she didn't get herself killed as she was so distracted singing. She didn't notice how she almost walked into a tree or fall into a hole some animal dug up. I couldn't stop her though when she walked into a patch of poison ivy."

Hefty laughed hard and wiped away the tears forming in his eyes. "Oh my god! Was she okay?!"

Branch snorted as he took a bite of his burrito. "She was fine, itchy, but fine. She was only realized what she was doing after she walked into this giant ass spider web and got a bunch of spiders all over her. Ran back to Peppy crying her eyes out after I tried brushing off all the spiders on her."

Imagining poor little Poppy being sad and Branch trying to help her just made Hefty grin. "You always watched out for Poppy since day one huh?"

Finished chewing, Branch shrugged as he swallowed. "Pretty much, I mean we were forced to play together when we were babies, Peppy and Poppy's mom were good friends with my parents. I guess after watching all the dangerous shit Poppy gets into the protectiveness kinda just kicked in."

The jock looked at his date in surprise, Branch never talked about his birth parents to him before.

Branch seemed to have read his mind and sighed. "I never really knew them, I was just a baby when they died and my grandma took me in. Peppy told me though that I have my mom's eyes, and a smaller version my dad's nose. which is hard to believe since my nose is already huge."

Hefty smiled a little and poked Branch's nose. "I think you have a nice nose. I never knew my actual parents either, I have no idea what happened to them, but Papa and Willow are the best parent figures a guy like me could ask for. They're really loving and give me plenty of attention despite having to care for a lot of kids."

Rubbing his nose, Branch leaned back a little against the tree they were sitting under. "Yeah, Peppy's pretty cool too. It was nice of him to take me in when I was 5, and he's a decent father figure."

Hefty nodded as he took a sip of his soda. It was nice that Branch was sharing and opening up to him like this. He was a little curious about what happened to Branch's Grandma that caused Peppy to adopt Branch when he was 5, but he wasn't going to ask. "I bet Poppy's an awesome sister too."

the way Branch sighed in a way that mixed annoyance and affection together, making Hefty laugh a little. "She can be a little, trying at times. It's nice of her to try to cheer me up, I just wish I didn't have to brace myself for a glitter attack every time I come upstairs. She's the reason I hate that shit."

The jock shuddered at the memory of how Poppy "attacked" his team after their last game victory with an assault of glitter, coating all of them in the sparkly eyesore. "Don't think I blame you..."

Once they finished their food the two threw away their trash (and Hefty having to throw away whatever remained of the picnic stuff) and began to walk around the park.

As Hefty talked about the one time Brainy nearly blew up Papa's work shed, Branch listened closely as he looked around. Children were playing while their parents watched over them, people were jogging by, and the elderly were sitting on the benches feeding the wildlife seeds and nuts.

As the grump looked around, he glanced down when something caught his eye.

Hefty's hand.

Branch blushed as he started doing an internal debate.

This date was going really well.

Dating Hefty might be a bad idea.

Hefty was trying so hard to make sure Branch is having a good time.

But what if he eventually got tired of trying?

What if he didn't?

Being so lost in telling his story, Hefty was caught by surprise when he felt something grab his hand. Looking down, he saw Branch's fingers holding on nervously to his hand.

BRANCH was holding his HAND!

Feeling like the king of the world, Hefty wrapped his fingers around Branch's hand before he continued talking, his heart jumping for joy when he felt Branch's hand relax.

____________________

After a few more hours in the park, both Hefty and Branch agreed it was about time to go home and headed back to the car. Before Hefty could even open the back door for Branch, he watched in shock when Branch actually moved to the passenger seat door and got in himself.

As he moved to close the door behind him Branch noticed Hefty looking at him. "What?"

Smiling a little, Hefty just walked to the drivers seat. "Nothing."

The ride home was nice and calm, the traffic wasn't bad and they had one of Hefty's favorite sports stations playing, making Branch feel somewhat relaxed in the car.

Once they pulled into Branch and Poppy's driveway Hefty parked the car and looked at Branch. "Want me to walk you in?"

Branch snorted as he unbuckled. "That's very gentlemen like of you but I think I'll be fine walking 10 feet to the door... I had fun today though. Thanks for the date."

Hefty had a hopeful look on his face. "Does that mean you'd like to go on a second date?"

Branch stopped himself from opening the door and thought about it for a moment. He then looked at the jock, biting at his lip nervously Branch quickly leaned forward and gave Hefty a small peck on the lips. "Sure."

Getting out of the car, Branch rushed to the door before Hefty could react to what Branch just did and quickly went inside.

With his hand over his lips, Hefty's face heated up as he smiled brightly. He quickly pulled out his phone and texted something before pulling out of the driveway and heading home.

Inside the house, Branch barely had the chance to breath before Poppy body slammed him. "YOU KISSED HIIIIIIIM!"

Blushing in complete embarrassment, Branch groaned. "Of coarse you were watching..."

Wrapping her arms tightly around the grump, Poppy lifted him off the ground with her surprising strength and started spinning around. "I'M SO PROUD OF YOOOOUUUUU!"

Once back on the ground Branch stumbled a little until his dizziness went away and glared at Poppy. "It was a PECK. It's not that big of a deal."

Giggling, Poppy poked at Branch's chest where his heart is. "Suuuure. Nice jacket by the way."

Looking down, Branch cussed at himself for forgetting to give Hefty's jacket back. He was about to rush back outside until his phone went off.

Pulling it out, he saw he got a text from Hefty.

_'You can give me my jacket back at school. :)'_

Blushing, Branch just huffed in annoyance as Poppy started singing some random love song he didn't care enough to know the name of and headed downstairs to his bunker.

With the bunker door closed behind him, Branch attempted to remove the jacket but stopped when he noticed something. Holding the sleeve close to his face he gave it a small sniff.

It smelled like Hefty's favorite cologne... It was kinda nice.

Smiling a little, Branch left the jacket on as he went down the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

 

"So did you bring my jacket today?"

Branch didn't look up from his book as he sat on Hefty's bed. They've been dating for almost a week now and Branch has been, forgetting, to bring Hefty's jacket with him to school and to the Smurf Home. "I left it sitting on my bed, sorry."

Smirking a little at Branch, Hefty looked back down at his football helmet which he was cleaning off. He also has been forgetting to get his jacket back from Branch every time he visited his house. "It's fine."

Over at Brainy's side of the room, holding a 3DS as he and Brainy pokemon battled, Creek looked over at the two. "I still can't believe you two actually got together. I thought Mr. Lone-wolf would have fought you off with a stick or something."

Branch shot Creek a dirty look then aimed it at Hefty when he chuckled. "He tried, I was just more stubborn then him."

Rolling his eyes, Branch turned back to his, acquaintance (he still refused to call Creek or the Snack Pack his friends). "And at least I'M dating! You don't have the right to say anything Single Man."

Organizing his rock collection, Clumsy glanced at Branch as he said that then looked at Creek and Brainy confused. "Wait, you guys aren't dating?"

Pulling his attention away from his game, Brainy glanced at his younger foster brother. "No, but I can see how you'd get confused. We go hang out at that coffee shop near my college a lot, we eat together, Creek for some strange reason always wants to pay for both our meals, we always text every day, we-"

Stopping, Brainy seemed to think about everything he just said for a few moments before turning his attention to Creek. "Actually, it seems kinda illogical to say we're not dating. We're doing everything couples do minus the kissing and stuff. Do you want to just call ourselves boyfriends now?"

A little thrown off by Brainy's bluntness, Creek's face heated up. "Really? A-are you okay with that?"

Brainy nodded, his face blushing a little as well. "Only if you want to... It would be nice but I don't want to pressure you."

Chuckling, Creek leaned forward and planted a kiss on Brainy's cheek. "I'd love to."

Getting up from his bed, Hefty took Branch's hand as he too stood up to follow him. "And I think that's our cue to leave. I don't need to watch my bro being all lovey dovey. See ya."

Watching Hefty and Branch leave, Clumsy got up as well and chuckled awkwardly. "I think I'm gonna go too since, you know, three's a crowd. Bye!"

Once in the living room, Hefty and Branch sat down together on the couch and watched the younger kids play with their toys on the floor.

Smiling a little to himself, Hefty fakes a yawn and stretched out his arms, casually placing them around the back of the couch, and maybe his hand barely touching Branch's shoulder.

Not even looking away from his book, Branch snorted when he felt Hefty's hand brushing against his gray hoodie. "Smooth."

About to say something, the jock was cut off when Sassette walked over to them with a brush in her hand and her hair undone from her usual braids. "Hefty have you seen Lily? I need someone to help me with my hair!"

Putting a bookmark where he was, Branch put his book aside and held out his hand. "Here, I'll help. Poppy made me help her with her hair all the time growing up."

Gasping excitedly, Sassette handed the grump her hairbrush and jumped into his lap. "Thank you Branch!"

Grunting from the extra weight being thrown onto him, Branch mumbled a "You're welcome." Before getting to work. Hefty watched and looked at Sassette confused. "Doesn't Smurfette do your hair?"

The little girl shrugged, trying not to move her head so she wouldn't mess Branch up. "She said she's getting ready for a date."

This was news for Hefty. "A DATE? with who??"

Right as Branch finished getting the hair tie into Sassette's hair, everyone heard the doorbell being rung. Going to the main hallway of the house they saw Papa looking out the door with a surprised expression. "My word..."

As the two other young men looked over the elder's shoulder, and Sassette wiggling past their legs, their jaws dropped at what they saw.

Well, except for Branch who didn't look surprised. "Hey Poppy."

Hefty blinked a few times. "This explains why you didn't want to come over earlier... Man this is a workout for my eyeballs."

Sassette's shocked look soon turned into a VERY excited grin. "YOU REALLY ARE A PRINCESS!"

Giggling, Poppy looked back at her transportation. She had managed to get a horse drawn carriage, specially decorated in rainbow glitter, flowers, and pretty much anything worthy of a sparkly happy princess. "When you throw so many charity events you get some good favors. Being the daughter of the Mayor is also a bonus."

The pink haired girl then shot a smirk at Hefty. "I'd like to see you beat this Muscles for your and Branch's next date!"

Branch shuddered, knowing very well Hefty would consider that challenge. "Poppy don't give him ideas! Last thing I want is to parade through town like that!"

About to tell Branch to lighten up, Poppy stopped when she saw who she was here for. "Smurfette!"

Wearing one of her nice white dressed, Smurfette moved around the boys, a large smile forming on her face. "Wow! Oh Poppy this is amazing!"

Bowing for dramatic effect, Poppy held out her hand for her date. "Thank you. Shall we my dear?"

Taking her hand, Smurfette looked over her shoulder as Poppy lead her away. "I'll be back before curfew! Bye Papa!"

Shaking his head with a chuckle, Papa waved as the girls left. "You kids these days, so dramatic when showing off. At least she'll have fun."

Once the door was closed, Branch looked up at Hefty. "You better not try to beat that, I'm happy enough just chilling out watching a movie with you."

Giving a small chuckle, Hefty wrapped his arm around Branch and kissed hic cheek. "I won't, I promise... Though it would be fun spoiling you like a prince or something."

"Ugh, thanks a lot Poppy..."

______________

Once everyone left the bedroom, Brainy adjusted his glasses nervously, not making eye contact with Creek. "So um, what would you like to do with our first official date?"

Putting serious thought into this, Creek looked around, noticing some of the photos Brainy had taped the wall next to his bed.

One was of Brainy at, what Creek assumed, 6 years old. He wasn't wearing glasses and he wasn't looking directly at the camera as he smiled at it while having an arm around his dog Snappy. Both of them sitting on the ground of a sandy beach.

"... Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Um, sure?"

"Were you blind when you were younger?"

Brainy honestly wasn't surprised that this eventually came up. He knew it would sooner or later.

Sighing, he reached up and removed his glasses. "Yeah. It's why I have Snappy in the first place...Funny enough I named her that BEFORE Snappy and his siblings were dropped off here."

As Brainy looked at Creek, the other teen noticed how the young genius's eyes looks a bit more unfocused without his glasses. His eyes even looked smaller without the lences making them look bigger.

Brainy continued speaking. "When I was 10 Papa and Willow managed to get enough money to afford a surgery for me so I could have the chance to see better. Now all I need are the thickest glasses ever, without them everything looks like a bunch of blurry blobs."

Seeing that Brainy was holding out his glasses to him, Creek carefully took them and looked them over.

He already could tell the glasses were thick when they first met, but getting a close look at them make it MUCH more obvious. Holding them up, Creek put them up to his eyes.

Instant regret.

"GAH! Bloody hell!"

Sighing, Brainy shook his head. "Why does everyone want to try my glasses on? I warn them all it's to correct my bad vision, what do they expect?"

Giving the glasses back, Creek rubbed at his aching eyes. "Curiosity killed the cat."

Putting his glasses back on, Brainy watched as Creek tried making his pain go away. "Why do you ask?"

Blinking a few times, Creek looked back at the picture. "Just curious... Have you ever seen a beach sunrise?"

Thinking about it, Brainy shook his head. "No. I've seen a sun rise before but not on a beach outside of photos."

Smiling, Creek got the perfect date idea. "Then lets go see a beach sun rise at this perfect spot I know."

"I don't think Papa and Willow will let me do that. They're strict on curfew and getting much needed sleep."

"Well, they won't mind as long as they don't know."

Squinting his eyes suspiciously, Brainy worried about where this was going. "What are you saying?"

Creek carefully took Brainy's hands and held them excitedly. "Lets sneak out."

"... Are you NUTS?! I can't do that! Papa and Willow would kill me if they found out!"

Creek just chuckled, expecting this reaction. "Brainy relax, we can do it on a weekend when everyone is sleeping in. You're out and back before anyone realizes your gone. I do it all the time and my dad has never caught me. I promise you, it will be worth it. The view is breath taking."

Staring into Creek's hopeful indigo eyes, Brainy bit the inside of his cheek nervously as he thought it over.

... Seeing a beach sunrise would be nice...

"Okay, lets do it."


	10. Chapter 10

 

His phone buzzing as the silent alarm went off, Brainy quickly put his hand over it so the light would wake his roommates. Slipping his glasses on Brainy squinted to get a better look in the dark.

Hefty was softly snoring in his bed, snorting a little as he turned his back to him and faced the wall.

Clumsy was nearly falling off his bed, his blankets barely covering his legs and drool coming from the corner of his mouth.

Both of them were still sound asleep, neither of them getting up anytime soon.

Good.

Climbing out of bed, Brainy quietly patted his bed. Jumping onto the bed, Snappy dog laid down as Brainy put the blanket's over her. "Don't move okay girl? I'll be back soon."

Giving his loyal assistant a pat on the head, Brainy quickly left the room, making as little noise as possible as he went to one of the house's bathrooms to change into some proper day clothes.

Slipping out of the front door, As carefully as he could, Brainy closed the door as if one wrong move would wake the whole house.

"Ready to go?"

Barely holding back a scream, the young genius turned around with his hand over his chest, heart thumping hard against his rib cage. "Don't DO that!"

Barely holding back his laugh, Creek covered his mouth as his shoulders shook. "Sorry. Goodness you're jumpy."

Glaring at his boyfriend, Brainy crossed his arms. "Well I'm sorry but I'm not use to sneaking out!"

Chuckling, Creek carefully took Brainy's hand and lead him away to his car parked nearby. "I promise, it'll be worth it and we'll be back before anyone knows you disappeared."

Sighing, Brainy looked back at his home as Creek lead him away. Silently hoping he was right about that.

Once they got in the car and drove to the beach, Creek turned on his radio which he had his phone connected to. Songs that The Snack Pack sang were starting to play that Brainy hasn't heard before.

Over time Brainy found himself bobbing his head a little to the music. "You guys are really good. Ever thought about trying to make your music more public?"

As he kept his eyes on the road, Creek shrugged. "Not really. We post our songs on youtube but we mostly do this for fun. In the future I actually want to be a photographer."

Brainy looked at the driver in surprise. "Really? I thought you would want to do a yoga class thing."

That got Creek to chuckle a little. "I was thinking of something like that too. Like I could take people with me to see the sights like a tour guide sometimes, and if they want to we can do yoga at the most beautiful spots. Great way to be at peace with nature and to relax our auras."

Nodding, the young genius thought about his future. "I was thinking about mostly working on and selling my inventions to companies that could use the extra hand, and doing side repair jobs for extra cash. Remember last winter when the town had a black out and the only place that had power for a while was my college?"

When Creek nodded Brainy smirked and pointed his thumb at himself. "That was because of me. It takes the power company nearly all day to get the whole town powered up again and I get power in a college working in no time."

Creek laughed, impressed with Brainy's skills. "My word, you are quite the incredible genius."

Blushing from Creek's compliment, Brainy continued to talk about his accomplishments until they arrived. Getting out of the car, Brainy looked at the beach in front of them. Between them and the sand, were large jagged boulders. "This doesn't look safe."

Stepping on a more flat stone, Creek looked at Brainy and his choice in footwear. Smiling, he held out his hand for his boyfriend. "You're wearing closed toe shoes. You'll be fine as long as you watch your step."

Staring at Creek's offered hand for a moment, Brainy nervously took it as he started walking onto the rocks.

Halfway down, Brainy miscalculated how smooth a rock was and when he put his foot on it he slipped. Hearing Brainy shouting in alarm as he lost his balance, Creek acted fast and wrapped his arms around him before he could fall forward and slam his face into a boulder. "I got-"

_Crack!_

Gasping, Brainy touched his face when he realized his vision became extremely blurry. "Oh NO! Creek my glasses!"

Helping Brainy stand, Creek looked around until he found the glasses. Cringing, he bent over and picked them up, careful not to touch the shards of glass till attached to them. "Oh dear..."

Groaning, Brainy rubbed his face. "Papa and Willow are going to kill me..."

Wrapping up the broken glasses in a handkerchief, Creek carefully stuck them in the bag he brought with and looked at Brainy. "Do you have a spare set of glasses with you?"

Pulling his face out of his hands, Brainy looked at the large blob he was assuming was Creek. "Papa always holds onto my spares. Creek these glasses are special made for me! They're not cheap for Papa and Willow! They're going to want to know how this happened when I was suppose to be ASLEEP. This was such a bad idea."

Creek wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure what to say to make this better. As he was thinking of what to say Creek felt warmth hit his back.

Turning around, he saw as the sun began to rise over the water. A very stunning sight. He heard Brainy sigh. "Well, at least you got to enjoy the sunrise..."

Looking back at Brainy, Creek's heart dropped a little. At best, Brainy can just see the light coming up. He couldn't see all the special small details of the sun reflecting off the water as it got higher and higher.

Sighing, Creek grabbed Brainy's hands and started leading him back up to the car. "Lets take you back home..."

___________

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

Still somewhat half awake, Papa was caught by surprise as he was making his morning coffee.

Who would be at the door this time of day?

Yawning, the elder walked to the front door and looked through the peep hole. Shocked, Papa quickly opened the door and stared at the two boys in shock. "Brainy? Creek? What in the world are you two doing out here?"

Noticing his foster son had his head down in shame, Papa carefully took his chin and tilted his head up. "Brainy where are your glasses?"

Opening his mouth to speak, Brainy was cut off by Creek speaking first. "It was my fault Mr. Smurf."

Pulling out Brainy's broken glasses, Creek held them out to the adult. "I convinced Brainy to sneak out to see the sun rise with me at the beach for our first official date, and his glasses broke when he slipped and almost fell."

When Papa took the broken glasses Creek continued. "He didn't want to do this in the first place. I shouldn't have pressured him into going. I promise I'll pay for getting those glasses fixed or replaced...I'll also understand if you don't want me to see Brainy again."

Eyes widening in alarm, Brainy looked in Creek's direction before turning back to his Papa. "Papa it's not his fault! I should have been more careful and it was my decision not to tell you and Willow! Please don't ban Creek from seeing me again!"

Looking between the two boys, Papa ran his fingers though his beard as he thought about this. "Brainy, I'm not pleased with your actions today, and Creek, you shouldn't be talking others into doing things like sneaking out. I'm disappointed in both of you."

Both of them had their heads down in shame as Papa lectured them. "But, I'm proud that you both came to tell me the truth instead of trying to hide this."

Both lifting their heads up, Creek and Brainy looked at Papa in surprise. "Creek, I'll keep that offer of you helping to pay for this. Brainy, you're going to stay in the house for the rest of the weekend with no electric devises. Next time, how about both of you just go out for lunch instead?"

Relieved that Papa wasn't as upset as they thought he would be, both teenagers replied with a "Yes Papa/Sir.". Before heading inside, Brainy quickly turned to Creek and gave him a tight hug.

Hugging back just as tightly, Creek gave Brainy a kiss on the cheek. "How about Monday we go meet at that café again? My treat?"

Chuckling, Brainy nodded against Creek's chest. "It's a date."


	11. Chapter 11

Dating Hefty, honestly, was going much better then Branch expected. It also seemed to start a chain reaction with how Poppy and Smurfette, along with Brainy and Creek all started dating too.

Branch also could have sworn Vanity and Guy were flirting with each other during Hefty's games, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He always had his eyes on Hefty the whole time.

Nothing majorly changed with his and Hefty's relationship and how they do things together, but now Hefty out right just slipped those awful poems into his pockets instead of his locker, and Branch went to more of his games.

The grump was even talked into wearing Hefty's jersey for good luck, it took a lot of convincing but Branch eventually took off his vest and slipped the shirt on over his hoody.

He still hasn't given it back, along with the letterman jacket, and he may or may not wear it under his hoody when he can just feel it in his stomach that his day at school would be a bad one.

Not that Hefty minded, Branch could keep the jersey with his jacket too as long as the jock could see his shirt poking out of the bottom of the gray hoody.

With Halloween rolling around, Poppy got EXCITED when learning that the Smurf home has a Halloween party every year and begged Papa and Willow to let her help set everything up.

Poppy also dragged Branch against his will to every costume store until she found the perfect outfits for them.

"I hate you so much right now."

Poppy turned in her seat and stuck her tongue out at Branch. "Come on this is what siblings do on Halloween! Wear matching costumes!"

Glaring at Poppy, Branch removed his hat and pushed his hair away from his forehead. "SIBLINGS DON'T DRAW THE BIG DIPPER ON THEIR SKIN WITH PERMINENT MARKER!"

Both Branch and Poppy were dressed as Dipper and Mabel from their favorite show Gravity Falls, and Poppy had to fight Branch to get him to wear his costume. "I didn't realize it was permanent marker at the time! I'll help you clean it off later!"

Grumbling, Branch sunk down deeper into his seat as Peppy chuckled while driving to the Smurf home. "Now you two behave tonight okay? No going overboard with all the candy... That means you Poppy."

Getting a "Okay Dad/Yes sir." from his kids, Peppy parked when he arrived at the large house and let the two out of the car. "Call me when you're ready to be picked up! Have fun!"

Once Branch and Poppy walked into the front door, both of them paused at the sight of ALL THE BLUE.

Looking away from setting up a "Pin the smile on the Jack-o-lantern" poster, Hefty smiled when he saw his boyfriend and Poppy. "Hey guys! Nice Gravity Falls costume."

Looking around at everyone walking by, Branch snorted. "Woooow, you guys must have had to buy a ton of face paint for this...Are all of you dressed like your Smurf dolls?"

Chuckling, Hefty finished putting up the poster before walking over to the two and giving Branch a kiss on the cheek. "Yup. We all kinda do this matching costume thing every year. Looks like you and Poppy do it too."

Rubbing away the blue on his cheek that Hefty smeared on there, Branch rolled his eyes. "I didn't agree to doing this, but I guess this is better then the time Poppy forced me to dress as Rapunzel while she was the knight when we were kids."

Seeing Smurfette walk into the room, Poppy rushed over and gave her girlfriend a big hug. "Hey beautiful, I see you're wearing blue lipstick. I got this super cute strawberry lip gloss in my pocket. Want to make a cute shade of purple?"

As Smurfette giggled Branch rolled his eyes, spotting Creek, Brainy, and Snappy dog (who was wearing a dog ladybug costume) walk into the room. Branch looked Creek over and raised an eyebrow. "You do know this is a costume party right Creek?"

Looking down at his tie-dye disco outfit, Creek crossed his arms and gave Branch an annoyed glare. "Wow, Branch with a sense of humor. Now that's scary."

Grabbing Branch's hand before he could flip Creek off, Hefty muttered a reminder to his boyfriend that there are children in the house before leading everyone deeper inside. "So how about we go take the quadruplets trick-or-treating?"

_____________________

The trick or treating trip went pretty well as they all walked around the neighborhood, the kids got a ton of candy and the teenagers got some candy because of their cute costumes, Snappy dog even got some doggy treats.

After a few hours though, when most of the houses started turning off their lights, they all decided it was about time to head back.

Sassette was being carried by Hefty piggy back style, burnt out from walking around and chasing her brothers up and down driveways. Branch smiled a little as he watched the little girl snuggle up against her older foster brother's back.

Feeling something bump into his side, the grump looked down and saw the one named Slouchy starting to stumble around tiredly.

Hefty was already carrying one of them, and Brainy and Smurfette were both holding the kids candy for them as they made the trip home.

Debating about it for a few more moments, Branch easily scooped up the kid and managed to get him on his back.

Caught a little by surprise, Slouchy just shrugged before leaning against Branch and getting comfortable. "Thanks."

"No problem kid."

Ignoring how Poppy started taking pictures and Creek snickering, Branch carried Slouchy all the way back to the house and carefully put him down once they were inside.

Flopping onto the couch, Branch rubbed his sore neck as Hefty handed him a bottle of water. "Man that gets uncomfortable after a while, and you were carrying Sassette longer then I was carrying Slouchy."

Hefty flexed his muscles, chuckling when Branch rolled his eyes. "It's easy when you got these bad boys."

The grump just scoffed at his boyfriend. "Can you be anymore of a show off?"

Sitting next to Branch, the jock shrugged. "Maybe, I've been wanting to get a tattoo, I'd totally show that off."

Branch raised an eyebrow at that information. "Really now? Where would you put it and what would it be?"

Thinking about it, Hefty rolled up the blue shirt he was wearing for his costume and pointed at his upper arm close to his shoulder. "Right there, I'm not sure what yet though."

Staring at where Hefty was pointing, Branch got an idea. Pulling out the marker he had in his pocket after taking it from Poppy, Branch pulled off the cap. "Hold still. This is permanent marker so if I mess up it'll be hard to get rid of."

Doing as his boyfriend said, the jock watched as Branch carefully drew on him. Once he was done Hefty looked at what Branch did.

He drew a perfect heart right on his arm.

Sticking the cap back on the marker, Branch smirked at his handy work. "There, since you tend to wear your heart on your sleeve all the time, I though that would suit you."

Hefty must have liked it, since Branch could almost see the stars in his eyes as he stared at the heart. Smiling brightly at his boyfriend, Hefty dove in for a kiss on the lips, laughing when Branch pulled away and groaned in annoyance. "Hefty! You're getting your face paint all over me!"

That didn't seem to stop Hefty, if anything that motivated him to give as many kisses as he could all over Branch's face, making him cry out in protest but soon turned into laughter. "You are the WORST Hefty!"

"You like me and you know it!"

Watching this from a distance, Willow smiled as the two boys made a mess of themselves with the blue face paint.

Blue was actually a good color on Branch...

_____________________

The night was full of nearly endless fun after the trick-or-treating.

There was party game after party game thanks to Poppy. No one got bored or left out, she even had some stuff for Branch to do at the party that even he would enjoy like watching Halloween movies and carving the spookiest pumpkin face. (Painter ended up winning that though with his mad art skills.)

By the end of the night, after the older kids/teens had a spooky story campfire cookout in the back yard, and after Poppy made herself sick from piling as much candy on her smores as possible, everyone turned in.

Groaning a little when something bright was shining in his face, Branch cracked an eye open and looked around.

He found himself sleeping on the couch on top of snoring Hefty, on the floor in a nest of blankets was Poppy and Smurfette, and in the recliner across the room was Creek holding Brainy in his arms.

using the pine tree hat he was wearing to shield his eyes from the morning sun, Branch felt his pockets to find his phone so he could check the time. Only to realize it wasn't there.

He must have left it outside during the campfire.

"Shit."

Carefully getting up, and unwillingly pulling away from Hefty's warmth, Branch rubbed his arms as he headed for the door.

Honestly why did Poppy think he'd LIKE dressing up as Dipper? Poppy got the better end of the deal wearing a sweater, a simple vest in the middle of fall wasn't the most ideal-

_"Waaaaah!"_

Hand inches from the door nob, Branch froze and processed what he just heard.

No. No way.

Hesitating, Branch finally grabbed the door nob and carefully opened it.

".....AH **HELL** NO. HEFTY!"

Snorting, Hefty sat up on the couch and looked around for his boyfriend. "Branch?!"

"HEFTY GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

Bolting up and towards the sound of Branch's voice, Hefty stopped when he saw him pacing around in front of the door. "Branch what's wrong?"

With one of his hands rubbing at his aching head, Branch pointed his free hand towards the door. "To early for this shit!"

Confused, Hefty went over to the door and looked around. Not seeing anything he was about to ask what Branch was freaking out about until he heard a small whimper.

Looking down, Hefty saw bundled up in a basket, a little baby dressed in a blue onesie and a white cap.

"Oh..."


	12. Chapter 12

 

 

"Soooo, how is everything going with little Baby Smurf?"

Sighing, Hefty leaned to the side a little so his head would be resting a little against Branch's. It's been almost a week since the baby was dropped off at the Smurf home, and things were still as crazy as when Branch found him and his swearing woke everyone up.

Putting down his plastic spork, Branch awkwardly patted Hefty's head. "That bad huh?"

Sitting next to Poppy at the lunch table, Smurfette rubbed her face tiredly. "I'll never understand how Papa and Willow could handle 200 of us over the years..."

Swallowing his food, Creek spoke up next with a worried look. "Brainy told me Child Protective Services are fighting you guys a bit with keeping the little fellow."

Clumsy nodded. "Normally most of us are brought there by normal ways that are safer then just dumping us at a doorstep. There's no legal issues to deal with."

Sighing, Vanity put away his pocket mirror and leaned against Guy dramatically. "But because of what happened with Baby those people won't leave Papa and Willow alone."

Storm glared down at her food as she stabbed at it with her spork (Clumsy recently talked her into sitting with them), angry with this whole situation. "Now they want to just throw the kid to random places, which is stupid because he'll be safe and happy with us."

Looking at all the smurf siblings at the table, and glancing up a little at his boyfriend to see his bummed out expression, Branch looked at Poppy who was looking back at him. Both of them knew they were thinking about the same thing.

Maybe they could help...

_______________

Looking up from his paperwork, Peppy looked at his two children in shock. "You want me to what??"

Standing in Peppy's home office, Poppy and Branch stood in front of his work desk and the girl in pink was giving her BEST puppy eyes ever. "Pleeeeaaaase Daddy! You know as well as us the little baby will be SO happy with them! You did it once, you can do it again!"

Dropping the papers on his desk, Peppy leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Poppy sweetheart that is so much more different then our situation years ago..."

"How?"

Both Peppy and Poppy looked at Branch as he spoke, arms crossed and a eyebrows furrowed. "How is this ANY different? If we don't do something soon this kid, who doesn't even have a family to begin with, will be sent to one crappy foster family after another. The Smurf home is the best place for the baby!"

The mayor sighed. Of coarse Branch would take this personally. "Branch you know as well as I do how different this is! I managed to keep you from going into some random foster care or orphanage because I was the closest thing to a family you had left. I was lucky I could pull a lot of strings to make sure you were safe and happy with us. I don't think I can do the same for your boyfriend and his family."

Gripping his upper arms tightly, Branch turned his back to Peppy and stormed out of the room, ignoring Poppy and her father calling out to him.

This was a stupid idea. Of coarse it wouldn't work. What was he and Poppy thinking?

Once he was done in the bunker, Branch sat down on his small couch and glared up at the ceiling.

Branch gets the special treatment just because the mayor of Troll Village was good friends with his family but some random kid who really needs this doesn't? Bull shit.

Turning his head, Branch looked at an old photo he had sitting on the side table between the couch and his bed.

It was of him, Poppy, and Peppy when he was a kid. He had a big forced awkward smile on his face while Poppy looked as happy as ever and Peppy smiling just as brightly as her.

It was taken during their family bonding trip shortly after Peppy officially made Branch part of the family.

...He still remembered how scared he was when he woke up in the hospital and realized he didn't have anyone anymore to take care of him.

_"What's going to happen to me?! Is someone going to take me away?! I don't want to be taken away Peppy!"_

_"Branch, I promise, I won't let ANYONE take you away from me."_

So deep in thought, Branch jumped with a gasp when his phone went off.

Sighing, he pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Hefty calling. Hitting the answer button the grump put his phone up to his ear. "Hey. I thought you had practice today?"

"Have you seen Grouchy?"

Whoa, something was obviously wrong. Branch has never heard Hefty sound so, worried? Scared? Upset?? "No, Hefty what's wrong?"

"Brainy just called me. Child Protective Services said they're planning on taking Baby tomorrow and Grouchy took off with him!"

Branch's eyes went wide with shock. "WHAT? Holy shit, okay um, I-I'm on my way over! Does Poppy know?"

"Yeah, Smurfette is talking to her now. God Branch this is just going from bad to worse-"

Slipping his shoes on, Branch started heading up the stairs. "Hey, calm down. We'll find Grouchy and I'm sure he and Baby are just fine okay? I'll be at your place soon. Be safe getting there alright?"

"Yeah... Yeah okay. Thanks Branch."

"No problem. I'll see you soon, bye."

Hanging up, Branch closed the door to the basement and saw Poppy and Peppy already at the front door, Peppy grabbing his keys for the car and Poppy still talking to her girlfriend.

The grump didn't wait and headed out the door, jumping into the back seat of the car with Peppy and Poppy right behind him.

_________________________________

They all split up into groups to look for Grouchy, anyone with a car or had a license went driving around town while the others searched on foot.

Sitting in the passenger seat of Hefty's car, Branch looked over at his boyfriend who was carefully scanning the area as he drove.

The school jock looked so tense, and upset. Branch has never seen Hefty look like that. Bummed out over loosing a game yes, but never this level up upset.

Nervously, Branch reached out and grabbed Hefty's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Surprised, Hefty glanced at Branch before putting his eyes back on the road. Sighing, he put one of his hands over his boyfriends while he kept the other on the wheel. "Sorry, I'm just- this has never happened before."

Keeping his hand on Hefty's shoulder, Branch started looking through the windows. "I understand. Stuff like this can be pretty, scary to put it lightly. Is there any certain place you know where Grouchy hangs out?"

Drumming his fingers against the steering wheel, Hefty thought it over. "I don't hang out with Grouchy often... The only thing I can think of is his favorite bench he likes to sit and grouch at in a park but he wouldn't go there if he didn't want to be found."

Branch hummed in thought. "You might be surprised. Lets go check there anyways."

Turning the car around, Hefty drove towards the park.

_____________________________

When everyone split into groups, Peppy offered to drive Papa around town in search of his missing foster son while Willow took the Smurf home van.

Looking over at the foster father, Peppy saw all the emotions a father would have when he doesn't know where his children are. All of those emotions combined can be the worst feelings a parent can experience.

"So, Mr. Smurf, what made you decide to foster so many children in the first place?"

Looking at Peppy for a moment, Papa turned back to the windows and sighed. "It's a bit of a long story. My father left France and came here before I was born. Due to some, complicated circumstances, he had to leave and I had to stay here, all by myself."

Peppy stayed quiet as Papa continued. "Those were the loneliest years of my life. I never wanted another child to feel the same way I did. So when I met Willow who came from a lonely background as well, we both decided to start the Foster home and give as much love as we could to as many children as possible."

The mayor nodded once Papa finished talking. "Wow. That's very noble of you to do. All the children must look up to the two of you."

Chuckling a little, a small fond smile formed on Papa's face. "They do. We love all of them as if they were our own."

The two of them continued to drive around in silence until Papa's phone started ringing. Pulling it out the elder answered in quickly seeing it was Hefty calling. "Hello?"

"Papa, we found him."

Sighing in relief, Papa put his hand over his heart. "Oh thank goodness. Where were they? Is Grouchy and Baby okay?"

"Grouchy was at the park sitting at his favorite bench. He was hiding in the woods nearby earlier but when he started running out of food for Baby he started to panic. Baby's fine but, Grouchy's pretty upset..."

As Peppy turned the care around the foster father sighed. "I'm not surprised... I'll be home soon."

______________________

Rushing into the house, Papa headed to the living room where he saw most of his children who have returned before him. Willow had Baby in his arms and Hefty with his arm around Grouchy as they sat together on the couch.

Seeing Papa walk in, Grouchy avoided looking at him and tried swallowing the lump in his throat. "I'm sorry Papa...I hate not knowing what to do."

Sighing, Papa walked over, sat next to his foster son and pulled him into a tight hug. "I know Grouchy, I know. I understand that you truly love Baby, and I'm so proud of you for coming back and doing the right thing."

Watching as Grouchy hugged Papa back tightly and hide his face in his shoulder as he started to tremble, Peppy looked around at the others that were there.

Creek was there with Brainy, his arms around his boyfriend as Brainy removed his glasses to wipe away his tears.

Poppy has her arm around Smurfette's waist and was holding her hands as her girlfriend rested her head against Poppy.

Branch was holding on tightly to Hefty's hand, he looked like he wanted to do more but had no idea how to.

These people really did love the little fellow. Letting him go was breaking all of their hearts.

Well, if Peppy could tweak with the system once, he could do it again.

_________________________

The past few days have been a little, difficult.

Child Protective Services came to pick up Baby right on time, and ever since then everyone at the Smurf home was heart broken.

Since it was the weekend, Branch, Poppy, and Creek were all given permission to spend the night at the Smurf home to spend time with their partners.

Most of the time Poppy spent making comfort snacks for everyone and binge-watching every feel-good movie she owned. The rest of the time she spent snuggling Smurfette.

During the movie watching Creek had his arm around Brainy as they sat comfortably together, and Snappy dog resting her head on Brainy's legs as he petted her.

Branch at first spent most of his time holding Hefty's hand.

He, wasn't exactly the comforting type. At best he'd hug Poppy if she was upset over something like dropping her ice cream. This was a whole new thing that Branch was NOT prepared for.

He was Hefty's boyfriend, he should do SOMETHING other then hold his hand.

As the first Toy Story movie played Branch glanced at Hefty, took a deep breath, and grabbed his boyfriend's arm. Throwing it over his shoulders Branch scooted closer to Hefty and wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his head against his powerful shoulder.

Surprised that Branch did that, Hefty stared at his head of dark fluffy hair.

He was normally the first to start hugs and cuddles with Branch, never the other way around, until now.

Feeling his heart warm up, Hefty kissed Branch's head and rested his head against his.

The next morning everyone was sleeping in all over the living room while morning cartoons played on the tv.

On the floor, Grouchy snored softly as he drooled on the pillow he brought from his room. His face scrunched up when he felt something small and soft pat his cheek.

Cracking his eyes open, they shot open when he processed what he was looking at. "Baby?!"

Willow chuckled as she watched Grouchy sit up and carefully take Baby from her arms. "Welcome home your new foster brother."

With everyone now waking up from the noise, Hefty laughed happily as he moved next to Grouchy and let Baby grab his finger. "How did you get him back?"

Walking into the living room, Peppy smiles warmly. "I may have pulled an all nighter to make sure Baby went to the right family."

Squeeling happily, Poppy rushed over to her dad and wrapper her arms around him, giving him many MANY kisses all over his cheek. "Oh Dad you're the BEST Mayor and Dad EVER! We need to throw a Welcome Home Party for Baby Smurf!"

Chuckling as he watched his daughter rush back to her girlfriend to make party plans, Peppy looked at Branch as he walked over.

Branch rubbed the back of his neck, looking at his adoptive parent a bit guilty. "Hey um, sorry for-"

Not letting him finish, Peppy pulled Branch into a tight hug. Ignoring how his adoptive son didn't hug back and huffed. "Peppy..."

"Oh hush, I don't hug you that often. Let me have this father-son bonding moment."

Sighing, Branch patted Peppy's back in return.


	13. Chapter 13

"Pleasepleasepleaseprettyplease!"

Sighing in annoyance, Branch pulled his book away from his face and glared down at Poppy who was groveling at the foot of his bed. "NO. I am not helping you with your big ambush date! Why is it so important to you anyways?"

Getting up off the floor, Poppy dramatically flopped on Branch's bed on her back. "It's our one month anniversary! It HAS to be perfect!"

Placing a book mark where he left off, Branch put it on his side table. "You're making a big deal over nothing Poppy. Hefty and I didn't do anything for dating over a month."

Before he could blink his adoptive sister got in Branch's face and was squishing his cheeks in her hands. "IT HAS TO BE PERFECT BRANCH! You know how AMAZING it is that you're still together with such a special person! I want to make this amazing for Smurfette!"

"...Let go of my face."

Huffing, Poppy got out of Branch's personal bubble. "You're no fun."

Rubbing his cheeks, Branch gave Poppy a deadpan look. "Oh really? You're just realizing this after all these years?"

"No, I think I've known that since we were two."

Branch just sighed and leaned against his headboard. "To bad you couldn't learn how to understand sarcasm, or you know, learn the fact that I hate singing and dancing."

Poppy just rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I took that into account. I don't want you there singing and dancing, I just want you to help organize everything with your crazy prepared skills!"

Going quiet, Branch took this into consideration. "....No dancing?"

"Yup."

"OR singing?"

"Not even a whistle has to come from you."

".....Fine, I'll help- ACK! NO HUGGING!"

Ignoring Branch's protest, Poppy tightly squeezed as she hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek. "YOU'RE THE BEST BANCH!"

Shoving Poppy off, the grump groaned in disgust as he wiped off the glittery lip gloss smeared all over the side of his face. "Do you smother your lips in that sparkly garbage before you kiss me every time?!"

Laughing, the pink girl didn't answer as she rushed up the stairs to get ready for everything.

This was going to be AWESOME!

_________________

Working on the Smurf Home greenhouse garden, Smurfette hummed a song to herself as she planted some pretty pink flowers.

 She saw them in a flower shop in town and their bright pink color reminded her so much of Poppy she couldn't resist in getting some for the home.

They were a nice addition next to all the different blue and white flowers she always enjoyed planting.

DING

Speaking of Poppy, when Smurfette pulled her phone out of her pocket she saw that her girlfriend has texted her.

'You want to go on a date to the park tomorrow?'

Taking a moment to go over her memories and make sure she didn't already have plans, Smurfette smiled and texted back.

'Sure. 3 a good time?'

'Perfect. See you later beautiful. ^3^'

Giggling, Smurfette put her phone away into her pocket and went back to her gardening, excited for tomorrow.

_____________________

Holding hands as they walked, Poppy made sure Smurfette wasn't looking when she sent a quick thumbs up and smily face emoji text to Branch.

Getting said text, Branch looked up at the other teens he had with him and gave them a thumbs up. "You guys are on. Don't fuck it up."

Crossing his arms, Creek rolled his eyes at Branch. "Good to know you have such amazing faith in us."

Branch just smirked in reply. "I'm glad to see my sarcastic ways have been rubbing off on you."

Being lead around by Poppy, Smurfette looked around at where they were. She was being pulled to the public stage the park had for stuff like plays and concerts. "What are we doing here?"

Smiling brightly, Poppy let to of Smurfette's hand and climbed up on stage. "Happy One Month Anniversary! HIT IT GUYS!"

Stepping out where they can be seen, The Snack Pack came out with their instruments and started to play while Poppy sang.

"You think I'm pretty  
Without any make-up on  
You think I'm funny  
When I tell the punch line wrong  
I know you get me  
So I'll let my walls come down, down

Before you met me  
I was alright  
But things were kinda heavy  
You brought me to life  
Now every February  
You'll be my valentine, valentine"

Getting down on her knee, Poppy held out her hand to Smurfette.

"Let's go all the way tonight  
No regrets, just love  
We can dance until we die  
You and I  
We'll be young forever"

Blushing, Smurfette took her girlfriend's hand and was pulled on stage. Continuing to sing, Poppy began to lead Smurfette in a dance.

"You make me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream  
The way you turn me on  
I, can't, sleep  
Let's runaway  
And don't ever look back  
Don't ever look back

My, heart, stops  
When you look at me  
Just, one, touch  
Now baby I believe  
This, is, real  
So take a chance  
And don't ever look back  
Don't ever look back"

Watching them dance from backstage, Branch noticed how a crowd was starting to gather and enjoy the show. Leave it to Poppy to make EVERYONE admire her hard work for her girlfriend.

"We drove to Cali  
And got drunk on the beach  
Got a motel and  
Built a fort out of sheets  
I finally found you  
My missing puzzle piece  
I'm complete

Let's go all the way tonight  
No regrets, just love  
We can dance until we die  
You and I  
We'll be young forever"

Sighing, Brach pulled the small remote control out of his pocket and pulled up his hood to protect his hair before pressing the button. Glitter began to rain down on everyone on stage, including Branch. "The things I do for you Poppy."

"You make me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream  
The way you turn me on  
I, can't, sleep  
Let's runaway  
And don't ever look back  
Don't ever look back

My, heart, stops  
When you look at me  
Just, one, touch  
Now baby I believe  
This, is, real  
So take a chance  
And don't ever look back  
Don't ever look back

I'mma get your heart racing  
In my skin-tight jeans  
Be your teenage dream tonight

Let you put your hands on me  
In my skin-tight jeans  
Be your teenage dream tonight"

As the song took a small moment to slow down for dramatic effect, Poppy carefully cupped Smurfette's face and planted a sweet kiss on her lips, making the people watching go "Aaaaaw.".

Not that Poppy really cared, all that mattered to her was Smurfette at the moment. Once they pulled away the girl in pink spin herself and her girlfriend around excitedly.

"You, make, me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream  
The way you turn me on  
I, can't, sleep  
Let's runaway  
And don't ever look back  
Don't ever look back

My, heart, stops  
When you look at me  
Just one touch  
Now baby I believe  
This, is, real  
So take a chance  
And don't ever look back  
Don't ever look back

I'mma get your heart racing  
In my skin-tight jeans  
Be your teenage dream tonight

Let you put your hands on me  
In my skin-tight jeans  
Be your teenage dream tonight (tonight, tonight, tonight)"

The crowd of people that gathered clapped and cheered at the end of the song, all of it was ignored by Poppy why was looking at Smurfette hopefully. "Did you like it?"

Laughing a little, Smurfette gave Poppy a kiss before pulling her into a hug. "I loved it Poppy."

Hugging back, Poppy looked at Branch and mouthed a "Thank you!" to him.

The Grump chuckled as he gave a thumbs up to her.

______________________

On their way back to the Smurf house, leaving a trail of glitter along the way, both girls held tightly onto each other's hands as they reached the front door. Poppy looked up at Smurfette. "So what do you want to do for our Two Month Anniversary?"

Biting her lip for a moment, the girl in white turned to her Girlfriend. "Poppy what you did today was super sweet and super, AMAZING. But-"

Gasping in horror, Poppy cut Smurfette off. "Was the park a bad location? Did you not like the song? Did I used to much- no, NOT ENOUGH GLITTER?!"

Shaking her head, Smurfette grabbed onto Poppy's shoulders tightly. "Breath Poppy, everything was perfect. I just want to know if maybe we could, slow down a little? Everything you do is so much more amazing then the last date, that I'm a little worried you'll end up proposing to me by our next date."

Poppy paused to think about it. Their first date she too Smurfette out on a big fancy carriage ride, and she was already putting on public musical numbers for her too.

"Oh, guess I have been going over the top a little."

Smiling, Smurfette gave Poppy a kiss on the cheek. "Well that's because you're Poppy. Over the top and happiness is what you do. Tell you what, when we hit out YEAR anniversary, you can go as crazy as you want with planning a big fancy date."

Giggling a little, Poppy rubbed her warming up cheek. "Okay, you got a deal."

Once Smurfette went inside, Poppy started heading towards the bus stop nearby that would take her home, her love-happy smile still on her face.

How did she get so lucky getting such an amazing girl like Smurfette?


	14. Chapter 14

There was obviously something wrong.

Hefty didn't want to say anything and push his luck, getting Branch to open up so much around him was amazing enough as it is, but it wasn't enough for him to know what was truly upsetting him the most lately.

It's been a few days, and Branch hasn't been his usual snarky and sarcastic self. Lately he'd been quiet, angry, and pretty depressed.

He does his school work and does as he's told as usual, but barely bats an eye at anyone who talks to him outside of Poppy and occasionally Hefty.

Poppy seemed to understand what's going on, since she's been giving Branch more space and not bugging him with songs and telling him to smile as usual. She herself is actually pretty quiet as well.

Doing work together in class during free work time, Hefty looked at his boyfriend.

Branch was half-heartedly doing his work, and he looked like he hadn't slept well, or even slept at all.

Playing with his pencil for a bit, Hefty carefully reached out and tapped Branch's arm. Once he looked up the school jock smiled. "Hey, want to pick up something to eat during lunch?"

Looking at Hefty for a moment longer, Branch just shrugged and pulled out his phone. "Sure, I'll text Poppy and tell her not to wait for us during lunch."

Happy that Branch agreed, Hefty went back to his own work.

When they went out for lunch, Hefty went through the closest coffee place to the school and ordered food for him and Branch. Once receiving their food and paying, Hefty handed Branch a cup. "Black coffee, a sandwich, and a chocolate pastry for you."

Hearing the last bit, Branch stopped blowing on his hot drink to cool it and gave his boyfriend a confused look. "I didn't ask for a chocolate pastry."

Taking a bite of his own sandwich, Hefty turned to Branch. "As your boyfriend I have the right to spoil you a little."

Looking back down at his coffee, Branch stayed quiet for a bit as he carefully sipped his warm drink. Once they both finished eating and started heading back to school, Branch leaned to the side and rested his head on Hefty's shoulder as he drove. "Thank you..."

Feeling a bit relieved that he helped Branch feel somewhat better, Hefty quickly reached over with his free hand and gave Branch's hand a squeeze. "Anything for you."

Once they got back to the school, both boys exited the car and started heading back inside. With one hand holding his coffee, Branch held Hefty's hand with his empty hand. "....Do you want to chill at my place tonight? Poppy wants to go to a slumber party but she didn't want me to spend my Friday night all alone."

Thinking about it, Hefty pulled out his phone to text Papa. "I'm sure Papa will be cool with that as long as Peppy's there. It'll be nice to enjoy a movie with just the two of us."

As Branch opened the door to the school, glitter was shot into his face, coating the grump in a sparkly mess. Poppy cringed when she realized who just walked through the door. "Ooooh, sorry Branch! That was meant for Stormy and her archery team! They just won their game against the other school!"

Grumbling, Branch looked at the jock. "I can't thank you enough for this coffee right now."

Watching as Branch started chugging down what was left of his coffee, Hefty chuckled a little as he tried brushing off some of the glitter on his boyfriend's shoulder. "Yeah, I had the feeling you wanted, and needed it."

___________________

After school both boys stopped at the Smurf home to pick up some of Hefty's things before heading to Branch and Poppy's home. Once there and telling Peppy that Hefty was staying over, both of them headed down to the bunker (leaving the door open due to Peppy's orders, much to Branch's embarrassment).

Playing a movie from Netflix on Branch's tv, both boys got comfy on Branch's couch and started enjoying the film.

Halfway through the second movie they put on, Hefty felt a pressure against his shoulder and looked down.

Branch had dozed off and slumped over against Hefty's strong shoulder.

Chuckling quietly, Hefty put down the bowl of popcorn he was snacking on and carefully adjusted himself and Branch so they'd be laying down on the small couch. Now with his boyfriend's head against his chest, Hefty slowly rubbed Branch's back as he slept peacefully.

Eventually, Hefty himself started to drift off too after another movie that didn't really catch his attention, arms tightening around Branch as Hefty felt him shiver.

The shivering didn't stop though, and Branch started breathing kinda hard. Getting pulled back into the awake world, Hefty lifted his head and looked at Branch who was curling up in a tight ball and started muttering in his sleep.

Branch wasn't shivering from being cold, he was trembling from a nightmare.

Sitting up a little, Hefty cradled Branch against him, his heart breaking seeing tears starting to run down his boyfriend's cheeks. "Branch it's okay, you're okay. You're just having a nightmare."

Being to deep in his dream, Branch didn't hear Hefty's words as he continued to tremble.

Not sure what else to do, Hefty continued to hold Branch, softly mumbling reassuring words to him that it's okay and he's here.

Waking with an alarmed gasp, Branch tried to pull away but was being held down tightly. About to start struggling, Branch froze when he felt a heartbeat against his head and smelled the familiar cologne.

Looking up, Branch sighed and relaxed a little in his boyfriend's hold. "S-sorry I-"

Slowly releasing his tight hold, Hefty cupped Branch's face and wiped away the tears with his thumb. "Don't apologize. Are you okay?"

Feeling the wetness on his face and seeing the spots on Hefty's shirt, Branch blushed and sighed in frustration. "I'm fine. It was just a stupid dream..."

Frowning, Hefty carefully made Branch look him in the eye. "That didn't seem like a stupid dream. I'm not going to push you to but know that I'm here for you to talk to."

Looking into Hefty's blue eyes, Branch sighed and rested his head on Hefty's shoulder. "... Can you drive me somewhere please? I don't want to bother Peppy, he's probably asleep by now."

"Branch-"

"Please Hefty? I promise, I'll explain later."

Sighing, the jock gave in. "Okay..."

__________________

Following Branch's instructions without question, Hefty drove to where his boyfriend needed to go. He felt pretty confused when they started driving around on a rather curvy backroad, but even in the dark the fall colored nature was very beautiful around there.

"Stop here."

Slowing the car, Hefty pulled over and looked around confused as Branch unbuckled. Parking, Hefty followed his boyfriend as he got out of the car and stayed close to him as they walked in the dark.

Turning on his phone flashlight, Branch pointed it around until he found what he was looking for.

On the side of the road was a large, beautiful, clean pond. That wasn't what Branch wanted to show Hefty though.

Looking where Branch was shining his light, Hefty's eyes widened when he saw an old cross sitting at the foot of the pond. It looked very old, but well taken care of. "Branch?"

Taking the flower he plucked from the yard before he and Hefty left, Branch put it down in front of the cross, not moving to turn around so he could look at Hefty.

"...I was 5, my Grandma and I were driving home and we took the scenic route because the leaves changing colors made this road look so amazing and breath taking... It still does."

Slowly getting on his knees, Branch continued. "But then, that stupid song came on the radio. It was my grandma's favorite, so I started singing along to it... If I didn't distract her she would have seen that car coming sooner."

Everything seemed to stop to Hefty. So many things made sense now.

Why Branch hated being in the car or front seat.

Why the song always upset him so badly.

Why Peppy adopted Branch...

"Next thing I know I'm waking up in the hospital, Peppy by my bedside, him telling me Grandma was gone and that he was going to adopt me."

Hearing his own voice crack, Branch cleared his throat and frantically blinked to get rid of the stinging sensation of tears trying to form. "I haven't sung a note since... That's why I've been acting weird all week. Today's the day that it happened actually. It's why Poppy didn't want to leave me alone today."

Staring at his boyfriend's back, Hefty carefully moved until he was kneeling next to Branch. He slowly reached out and grabbed Branch's hand. "... You know it wasn't your fault right?"

Branch gave a humorless laugh. "That's what everyone tells me, it's what I try telling myself, but if I wasn't being such a stupid brat and shut up for FIVE seconds-"

Catching Branch by surprise, Hefty wrapped his arms around him and held him close. "It wasn't your fault. You were only 5. Know that no matter what you tell yourself, it was NEVER your fault. You have the biggest heart with it comes to those you love, and I know you'll do anything to keep them safe. You're an amazing person Branch, and I'm glad to call myself your boyfriend."

Unable to find the words to reply to Hefty, Branch started to tremble in his hold, trying not to left tears fall down his face as his emotions started to overwhelm him. He felt his boyfriend kiss his head. "It's okay to cry Branch..."

_Shit._

Pressing his face against Hefty's chest, Branch did his best to muffle the sniffles that escaped along with the tears. He still didn't want to cry, especially in front of Hefty, but this was as much as he was allowing to show.

Trying to give as much love as he could through a hug, Hefty rubbed Branch's back as his boyfriend allowed himself to cry a little.

 After a few minutes Branch eventually pulled away enough so he could try cleaning his face and speak clearly. "I wish you could have met Grandma Rosiepuff. She would have adored you."

Looking down at Branch, Hefty smiled warmly. "You really think so?"

Branch nodded, grinning a little. "Yeah, anyone determined enough to be my friend, and even willingly date me would have gotten A+ approval from her."

Chuckling, Hefty gave Branch a gentle kiss on the lips. "She sounds like an amazing person."

Sighing, Branch rested his head on Hefty's strong shoulder, looking at the cross. "She really is."


	15. Chapter 15

 

Jaw dropping, Poppy grabbed Branch by the shoulders. "HEFTY KNOWS?!"

Rolling his eyes at Poppy's overdramatic reaction, Branch removed Poppy's hands from his shoulders. "Yes, he does. It's not that big of a deal."

Poppy had just gotten back from her slumber party and rushed to go check on Branch the moment she got back to the house. Only to be greeted by Branch sleeping like the dead in Hefty's arms while in his bed.

When Branch woke up Poppy had already prepared breakfast for all of them. After the meal when Hefty excused himself to take a shower, Branch told Poppy what happened last night.

Sitting back down, Poppy took a deep breath to relax. She knew Hefty would find out about Grandma Rosiepuff eventually, she just didn't expect Branch to actually tell him so soon.

"...Are you okay?"

Playing with what's left of his food, Branch shrugged. "I don't know. Hefty was super supportive last night, once we got back he told me his goofy family stories until I fell asleep... He says he wants to pay his respects to Grandma sometime if I'm okay with it."

When he didn't continue, Poppy spoke. "Are you okay with it?"

Thinking over how he planned to answer, Branch didn't get the chance when Hefty walked back into the kitchen with a towel over his shoulder. "You have no idea how nice it is not having to fight like, 10 people for first dibs at the bathroom."

Giving a small chuckle, Branch watched as Hefty sat back down next to him. "Considering how Poppy and I battles for the bathroom when we were younger, 10 more people to fight must be brutal."

Poppy pouted and pointed accusingly at Branch. "You always used up all the hot water before it was my turn! Using a glittery bath bomb in a cold bath isn't very fun you know!"

___________________

Later on in the morning, Branch and Hefty went back downstairs to play some videogames until Hefty had to go home.

Branch wasn't entirely into the game though. Glancing at Hefty now and then, the grump couldn't stop thinking about Poppy's last question.

Was he okay with bringing Hefty to meet his grandma?

He never planned on telling Hefty at all about his grandma in the first place. If he ever did he though, by some unbelievable miracle, he'd tell him if they got married.

Not even Creek knows, and he and Poppy knew him since 5th grade. He's only known Hefty for like, 3 months, and here Branch was dumping his heart out to him.

Did he really trust Hefty that much already?

"...Hey Hefty?"

"Yeah?"

Hitting pause on the game, Branch looked at his boyfriend. "Do you really want to visit my grandma?"

Hefty was a little surprised Branch was bringing this up so soon. He though it would take a while for him to be comfortable enough to talk about the subject of his grandma again. "Of coarse. I want to pay my respect to the amazing person you love so much."

Blushing, the grump fiddled with the controller in his hands nervously. "....We can go later today if you want."

"...Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Planting a kiss on Branch's cheek, Hefty pulled him into a side hug. "Thanks Branch."

Leaning into the embrace, Branch hummed in reply.

__________________________

The walk was peacefully quiet this time, thankfully not as tense as the ride from the night before.

They stopped at a nearby flower shop, picking out a few flowers before leaving.

Once they arrived, they paid their respects to Rosiepuff. Hefty holding on to Branch's hand, and Branch squeezing Hefty's hand back.

Now at the park, where they had their first date, the two boys sat on Hefty's car eating Taco Bell.

Sipping at his soda, Branch glanced at his boyfriend who was enjoying his taco. "...So, how do you feel about all of this?"

Still with a mouth full of food, Hefty gave Branch a questionable look. "Hm?"

Leaning back, Branch stared at the mid-day sky. "You've been really supportive of all of this, but how do you feel about it? Not many partners are willing to deal with this much baggage."

Swallowing, Hefty grabbed Branch's hand, thinking over on how to answer. "...I'll admit, it's a lot to take in. I knew you had some personal problems, I'm just surprised you actually shared it all with me. So soon too."

Blushing, Branch shrugged. "I've never been in a relationship before now. I'm a little surprised I shared so much with you too. Sorry if I overwhelmed you though."

the jock shook his head. "You didn't overwhelm me, sure it's a lot, but we all have our problems. I know I do."

Branch tended to forget Hefty was technically an orphan, along with Smurfette, Brainy, Clumsy, and everyone else at the home. They all seem like such a happy and functional family, it's hard to realize some of them probably had a rough beginning. "...Do you want to talk about it? It's okay if you don't want to."

With such a long and intense pause, Branch thought Hefty wouldn't answer until he spoke up. "Like I said before, I never knew my birth parents. It never bothered me much but I use to wonder what they were like, what they look like, and I wondered what made them give me up."

Hefty gave a small shrug. "If I really wanted to find out though, I could have asked Papa and Willow. I could still do that, but I don't really want to. I'm happy where I am, and I had a pretty decent beginning compared to some of the others so I'm not complaining."

Staring at his boyfriend, Branch scooted closer and rested his head on Hefty's shoulder. "I'm glad you're happy with where you are. Papa and Willow gave you and everyone a pretty good home."

_And I'm glad you're here with me_.

That part was left unsaid, but Hefty could tell that's what Branch was thinking. Carefully taking Branch's chin, Hefty tilted his boyfriend's head up and gave him a kiss on the lips. "I'm happy that I got such an amazing boyfriend in my life."

The grump snorted a little. "I'm not that amazing."

Hefty hummed as he went in for another kiss. "Yes you are."

Scoffing, Branch pulled away enough to put his drink down and take the rest of Hefty's taco out of his hand to put it down as well. "You're such a sap."

Hefty couldn't reply, with Branch cutting him off with a deep kiss.


	16. Chapter 16

 

Sipping away at his hot chocolate, Brainy licked away the chocolate mustache as he looked over his boyfriend. "Creek aren't you cold? December is right around the corner and you're still wearing a purple tang top."

Snapping out of his train of thought, Creek looked down at himself. "Oh, not really. Besides, aren't you to warm dressed like a big blue marshmallow?

Brainy scowled at Creek, making him laugh in the process. "I get cold easily! With the temperature dipping down into freezing it's good to be prepared and avoided frostbite!"

Calming down his laughing fit, Creek grinned. "I know Brainy I know... So do you mind if I ask you something?"

Dipping a cookie he bought in his drink, Brainy shrugged. "Sure."

"Would you like to come to dinner at my house sometimes soon?"

Taking a bite of his snack, Brainy gave Creek a questionable look. He's never been invited to his boyfriend's home before, until now at least.

Creek seemed to read his mind and sighed. "I might have, bragged, about you to my dad a few to many times. He wants to meet you."

Swallowing, Brainy mentally went over his schedule for the week trying to recall what day he's free. "Pretty sure I have some free time tomorrow, I'd love to meet your dad."

Giving a small smile, Creek scooped up a bit of whipped cream from his own hot chocolate with his finger and booped Brainy's nose with it. "Wonderful. I'll pick you up tomorrow."

When Brainy shot his an annoyed look as he cleaned off his nose, Creek chuckled before finishing off his drink.

Stepping outside the café, Brainy adjusted his white winter hat to keep his ears warm and protected when something caught his eye.

Creek had his hands shoves deep in his pockets, and he was obviously fighting off shivers. Rolling his eyes, Brainy removed his scarf and looped it around Creek. "You are such a lair."

Surprised, Creek smiled as his boyfriend secured the scarf. "Thanks...Can I hold onto this for a while? It smells like you."

Creek had to keep himself from laughing again when Brainy started deeply blushing.

______________________

After picking up Brainy the next day, Creek drove to his home while Brainy observed the scenery around them.

He noticed how Creek seemed to live near Poppy and Branch's place, which was a little odd to Brainy. He thought he'd live somewhere, more open, or peaceful enough to meditate.

After meeting Branch and Poppy's interesting, somewhat irritating (okay VERY irritating) neighbor who called himself Cloud Guy, peaceful wasn't what Brainy would use to describe this neighborhood.

"Oh dear..."

Looking at Creek, he followed where his eyes were looking and saw him looking at a house, with two cars in the driveway. "Is that your home?"

Sighing, Creek parked on the side of the road in front of the house. "Yup. Looks like Mum is joining us for dinner."

Feeling somewhat confused, the genius started unbuckling. "Is that a bad thing?"

Hesitating, Creek looked at his boyfriend. "Not really, it just might makes things a bit, awkward."

Getting out of the car, Brainy followed his boyfriend inside, taking in everything he saw as Creek went looking for his parents. "Dad I'm home."

Walking into the room, Creek's father smiled when he saw Brainy with his son. "Welcome back Creek, I take it that this is Brainy?"

Pulling his attention away from the different photos on the wall, Brainy looked at his boyfriend's father and held out his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you sir."

Chuckling, the man shook Brainy's hand. "Please, call me Nile. It's wonderful to meet you as well."

Turning back to his son, Nile got a bit of a more serious look on his face. " I'm assuming you know you know your mother's back. She got the chance to come home earlier then planned so she and I could finish up a few things."

Sighing, Creek removed the jacket he had on (due to Brainy insisting he wears one now) and hung it up on a coat hanger on the wall. "Did you at least tell her about Brainy?"

"I did. She wishes you told her though."

By the look on his boyfriend's face, Brainy could tell Creek was biting his tongue so he wouldn't say anything in front of him. Before Brainy could question any of this a woman came into the room, still wearing her army uniform.

Smiling, the woman walked over and pulled Creek into a hug and kissed his cheek. "Hi sweetie. It's good to see you again."

Hugging back, Creek smiled a little as well. "Good to see you too Mum."

Pulling apart, Creek's mother looked at Brainy. "Hello, I'm Anaba. You must be Creek's..." She paused, not sure how she should word their relationship. Nile told her about them but only that Creek was bringing home someone he's been seeing named Brainy.

Smiling somewhat nervously, Brainy held out his hand. "Boyfriend. Nice to meet you."

Giving Brainy's hand a good shake, Anaba looked at her husband. "So, what's for dinner?"

_________________

Dinner started off kinda, tense.

Also quiet, very quiet.

No one seemed to want to say a word. Not Creek, or his parents, and Brainy was to worried about saying the wrong thing and the world ending at this rate.

Finally, having enough of the silence herself, Anaba finally said something. "So, Brainy. How did you and Creek meet?"

taking a small drink from his cup, Brainy spoke. "We officially met at an after party for my brother's team winning a football game. I was dragged there by my sister who's dating Creek's friend Poppy."

Humming in acknowledgment, Creek's mom started cutting at her food. "Oh that's nice. Glad to hear Poppy's still doing okay. So do you two go to the same school?"

"No, actually I skipped a few grades. I'm a freshmen in college."

That seemed to catch Anaba's attention, looking away from her plate with an impressed expression. "Really now? You must be quite the boy genius. Such a shame you and Creek can't have children to pass that down to."

"MUM!"

Creek blushed, not as deeply as Brainy, and glared at his mother. "Change the subject PLEASE."

"Sorry, sorry. So how many sibling so you have Brainy?"

Clearing his throat, Brainy nervously played with his food a little. "I have about over 200 foster siblings. I live in the Smurf Foster Home."

Anaba paused, her fork lifted up with the food she was about to eat. "Oh, you're orphaned?"

Dropping his silver wear, Creek stood up and took Brainy's hand. "Thanks for dinner dad, but we're going to my room now."

Before either of his parents could say anything, Creek lead Brainy out of the dining room and towards his bedroom. Once there Creek closed the door behind him and sighed tiredly, rubbing his face. "I am SO SORRY for what my Mum said."

Sitting on Creek's bed, Brainy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "It's okay. Not the first time I've heard comments on me being technically an orphan. So I take it you and your mom don't have the best relationship in the world."

Moving next to Brainy, Creek flopped onto his back on his bed. "Obviously. She and my Dad are actually getting a divorce."

Surprised, Brainy looked down at his boyfriend. "Really? Oh wow Creek I'm sorry to hear that."

Creek just shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal, kinda surprised their relationship lasted this long. Mum has always been more committed to her job then her family anyways. I'm actually the way I am now because I was trying to be rebellious. Nothing seems to annoy army people more then peace loving hippies. Turns out thought that I actually like it."

Looking around Creek's room, Brainy took in the tie-dye colored decorations. All of it seemed so out of place compared to the rest of the organized and seemingly perfect American stereotype home. "THIS is suppose to be rebellious? I thought Branch was the rebellious bad boy in your friend group."

That got an amused snort and a smirk from Creek. "He is a bad boy but he respects Peppy to much to disobey him on purpose. I on the other hand tend to sneak out, skip classes, and I even "borrowed" my dad's car once before I got a license... Don't tell him I did that please."

Chuckling a little, Brainy brushed away a strand of Creek's long hair out of his face. "I won't... I'm sorry you're going through all of this though."

Looking at Brainy, Creek smiled as he pulled Brainy down with him, holding his smart boyfriend against his chest. "Thanks. It's difficult, but I can handle it. I have amazing friends and a great boyfriend to make life a little bit better."

They stayed in comfortable silence, both of them just enjoying being in each other's arms.

"...I still can't believe I'm dating a bad boy."

Creek busted out laughing before kissing Brainy's head.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this chapter and next few get a little sad, and kinda dark. So brace yourself for the incoming angst.

Sitting on his bed, Hefty looked over the letters Papa gave him when he got home from the last day of school before holiday break.

They were from colleges that were offering him a scholarship for his impressive skills at different sports. All of them seeming to want to get a hold of him before the other school. Some of them were for really good schools pretty far away, and Hefty was having trouble deciding.

"Shouldn't you talk to Branch about this?"

Looking up, Hefty watched as Brainy sat down at his desk and got to work on his homework. "Talk about what?"

Brainy rolled his eyes as Snappy dog moved from his bed and rested under his desk chair. "College Hefty. For many young relationships it can be the breaking point. You're a year older then Branch and you'll be graduating sooner. If you go to a far away college you two may not be able to see each other often."

Glancing back down at the letters, Hefty thought about it. "Well, I can always come to visit as often as I can, and we can talk as much as we want over the phone until Branch graduates."

Putting his pencil down, Brainy turned to Hefty with a raised eyebrow. "And what about if Branch goes to a different college?"

Stuffing the letters in his bag, Hefty got up. "Branch doesn't even know if he wants to go to college or not. I'm sure I can talk him into coming to my school when he graduates. Creek didn't seem to mind when you offered him going to your school when he graduates."

"You do realize comparing Creek and Branch is like comparing two of the most opposite things possible right?"

Ignoring his foster brother, Hefty left to go over to Branch and Poppy's place. Brainy just sighed and looked down at Snappy dog. "How well do you think that's going to end?"

The dog under his chair gave a small whine.

___________________________

Parking in the driveway, Hefty laughed a little when he got out of his car and saw all the snow angels and snowmen in the yard, along with all the crazy Christmas decorations covering the house. All most likely Poppy's doing.

Knocking on the door, Hefty looked over all the glittery winter decorations on it until Branch opened it.

Smiling, Branch gave Hefty a quick kiss before letting him inside. "Hey there. Want some hot chocolate?"

Nodding, Hefty walked in, and whistled at the sight of the tree in the living room as he removed his jacket. "Damn, Poppy went all out...Are those Hanukkah and Kwanzaa decorations?"

In the kitchen, Branch started making the warm beverages. "Yeah, and more. Poppy has a lot of friends who celebrate different holidays, so she likes to include literally EVERYTHING she can."

The jock chuckled as he looked at everything. Poppy even had some presents already under the tree, some sloppier then others. "That's cool. Some of Poppy's present wrapping looks like a rush job though."

Taking a peak into the living room to see what Hefty was talking about, Branch rolled his eyes and went back to the kitchen. "I wrapped those. I'm not great at wrapping but it's the only way from keeping Poppy from trying to sneak a peak at what I got her."

His chuckle turning into laughter, Hefty sat down at the couch. "What did you get her?"

Bringing the two mugs into the living room, the grump smirked at his boyfriend. "I'm not telling you. If Poppy finds out you know she'll puppy-eyes you until you confess. Not to mention you're probably trying to figure out what I got you too."

Taking his drink, Hefty held the mug in both hands, feeling it warm up his chilled fingers. "Oh no, you figured out my master plan."

Snorting, Branch leaned against Hefty and took a sip of his hot chocolate. "Christmas at your place must be crazy. Expensive too."

Hefty gave a small shrug. "A little. Papa and Willow manage though. Both of them making everyone their gifts. Only down side is that it's the same thing every year. Hats."

"So THAT explains why everyone there has white and tan hats!"

Hefty pulled off his white hat and looked it over. "Yeah. I don't mind getting a hat every year, and at least we do a secret santa thing every year so we at least get a surprise present. I got Blossom this year. What the heck do you get the most hyper girl in existence?"

Drumming his fingers against his mug, Branch thought it over. "A human sized hamster wheel?"

Laughing again, Hefty wrapped his arm around Branch. "Not a bad idea, but a little on the expensive side. Maybe I'll ask Lily or Storm since they hang out together the most."

Chuckling a little, Branch got comfortable in Hefty's hold. "So what did you come over for? Not that I'm complaining since Peppy is super busy this time of year and Poppy's off doing holiday charity stuff now that the house is done, but we just saw each other a few hours ago."

Sipping from his mug, Hefty gave Branch a bit of a squeeze. "Maybe I just missed your cute face?"

"Sap."

"You know you like it."

"Seriously Hefty."

Sighing, the jock finally gave it. "Okay okay. I wanted to talk to you about something. You know how I'm a senior and you're not right?"

Branch already didn't like where this was going. "Yeah?"

"Well, I got a few letters offering scholarships because of my impressive sport skills. I've been trying to figure out what where to go, since some of them are kinda far."

Sitting up a little so he could properly look at Hefty, Branch raised an eyebrow. "You actually want to go to a school far from here? What about the one in town that Brainy goes to?"

Hefty shrugged in response. "Well maybe, they're pretty nice schools. I just kinda prefer not going to Brainy's school, feels a bit awkward being in a lower grade then my younger and smarter bro. Not to mention I'd probably loose my mind having Brainy bug me about homework more then he does now."

"Okay the part about your brother I can understand, but there are closer schools."

"Not as good as some of these other ones. I know the distance could get, difficult, but it'll only be a year then you graduate. Then if you want we can either go to the same school or move in together-"

Pulling away from Hefty, Branch set his mug down on the coffee table. "Whoa whoa whoa, what? You want me to move the moment I graduate? Hefty you can't just assume I'd be okay with that!"

Confused, Hefty put his mug down too. "Why not? I thought you'd be okay with it."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Branch sighed. "No. For starters I might have a different plans later down the line. I have no idea what I want to do yet so what I choose might make following you to college a bit difficult. Not to mention I can't just leave Troll Village like that and leave everything behind."

"Branch I'm not asking you to leave everything behind. We can bring everything we have with us, and not to mention Poppy and all our friends will be graduating soon too. They'll be moving out and doing what they want in life."

"What about Peppy? With Poppy and I out of the house he'll be all by himself. If I move far I won't be able to visit often."

Now Branch was just being a little difficult. "Most parents go through that Branch. Peppy will be fine."

Frowning, Branch looked down at his lap, still not looking convinced.

Hefty may know why. "Is there maybe another reason why you don't want to leave town?"

The grump sighed heavily. "I don't think I'm ready to leave her behind. I don't think I'll ever be ready."

Taking Branch's hand, Hefty waited until his boyfriend looked up at him. "Branch, I know it'll be difficult, but we can always come back and visit your Grandma. You can't hold onto the past like this if it ends up affecting your future badly-"

Pulling his hand out of Hefty's grip, Branch stood up and glared at him. "You think I'm holding on to what happened because I want to ruin my life?! I already let it haunt me my whole childhood! I can't let it go no matter how hard I try!"

Standing up as well, Hefty tried reasoning with Branch. "I'm not telling you to let it go, you just need to be able to move forward! Would your Grandma really want you to chain yourself to this town?"

"Of coarse not but it's my own decision! I'm not moving out of Troll Village just because you say so!"

"I'm not telling you to Branch, but you can always come back to visit! You can't just stay for your late grandma!"

"AT LEAST I HAVE FAMILY TO VISIT!"

Everything went silent.

Realizing what he just said, Branch covered his mouth in shock and looked at Hefty.

He had looked just as shocked, and hurt was mixed into his reaction as well.

"I-I didn't mean-"

Glaring at Branch, Hefty grabbed his jacket. "I'm going home."

"Wait Hefty-"

Reaching out, Branch tried grabbing his boyfriend's shoulder, but was caught by surprise when Hefty roughly shrugged off his hand as he headed for the door. "Bye."

"Hefty I'm sorry!"

**_SLAM!_ **

Branch cringed when the door slammed in his face. Throwing the door back open he watched as Hefty quickly got in his car and pulled out of the drive way, not sparing a glance at his boyfriend who was standing in the cold watching him leave.

____________________

Having a snowball fight with the younger foster home kids, Clumsy tried shielding himself behind a tree as most of the snowballs came flying in his direction, but mostly made the snow in the tree drop on his already cold head. "TIME OUT! I got snow in my face!"

When the snowballs stopped, Clumsy took the moment to try wiping his face clear of the cold snow, noticing how Hefty's car parked nearby and Hefty slamming the car door shut rather hard. "Hey Hefty! Wanna join us in a snowball fight?

"No."

Surprised a little by Hefty's tone of voice, Clumsy walked up to him and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Are you okay-"

"I'M FINE. Leave me alone."

Startled, Clumsy let go and watched Hefty stomp inside. Joining their playmate, Nat, Slouchy, Snappy, and Sassette looked as confused as him.

Snappy spoke first, crossing his arms over his chest. "Sheesh, what was that about?"

___________________________

Getting dropped off by her friends at home, Poppy did her best to balance the pizza box and soda in one hand while unlocking the door in the other. She could ring the doorbell until Branch gets the door but then he'd be annoyed with her for the rest of the night.

Finally successful, When Poppy opened the door, she nearly dropped the food getting hit hard by the intense sad feelings in the air.

Something was REALLY wrong.

Putting the food down at the coffee table, ignoring the two dirty cups sitting there, Poppy rushed for the Bunker. Giving a few warning knocks before rushing in. "Branch? Are you okay?"

Not getting a reply, the pink haired girl rushed down the stairs. Reaching the bottom, she saw Branch sitting in his bed, knees being tightly hugged and his face hidden by his knees and hoodie pulled over his head.

Sitting next to him on the bed, Poppy looked at the grump worried. "Branch, are you okay? Please, talk to me."

At first it didn't seem like Branch would say anything at all. Not until, in a blink of an eye, Branch let go of his knees and wrapped his arms around a now very surprised, and worried, Poppy.

Poppy hugged back tightly as she felt her shoulder get wet.

"...I messed up Poppy..."


	18. Chapter 18

 

 

"-and that's when he left."

Now in the kitchen, Poppy nibbled at the cold pizza, watching Branch just stare at his slice. Playing with her drink cup, Poppy thought about what to say. "Wow, Branch, that's-"

Rubbing his tired eyes, Branch groaned. "It's bad, I know! I fucked up! Now Hefty probably hates me for saying that shit to him! I was just upset! I wasn't thinking!"

Not wanting Branch to get worked up, Poppy put down her slice of pizza and held his hands. "Branch, calm down. Yeah it's a little bad, but Hefty wasn't in the right either. He should have thought about the whole college thing more before bringing it up to you."

Not getting a reply from the grump, Poppy tried thinking over ideas on how to fix this. "Maybe I can ask Smurfette to talk to-"

Eyes going wide, Branch finally looked up at Poppy. "No! Poppy please don't drag Smurfette or anyone else into this!"

"But-"

"This is my mistake. I need to fix this myself. I just don't want everyone talking about this okay?"

Biting at her lip a little, Poppy gave in with a sigh. "Okay. I won't bring it up to anyone else. Promise you'll come to me though if you need help?"

Branch nodded. "I promise."

Letting go of Branch's hands, Poppy picked up her food and started eating again. Looking at her adoptive brother's full plate she looked at him worried. "Aren't you hungry Branch?"

Shaking his head, Branch pushed the plate away. "No."

Pushing the plate back in Branch's direction, Poppy tried putting on a reassuring smile. "Well, you'll need your energy if you're going to help me set up my holiday charity parties! That is if you say yes to helping?"

Raising an eyebrow at the pink girl, Branch looked down at the plate of cold pizza.

It's not like he'd be doing anything now during their break from school.

Picking up the pizza, Branch nibbled at it, making Poppy's smile grow. "Fine."

After barely eating half the piece of pizza, Branch headed downstairs to go to bed. Only he didn't exactly go to sleep right away.

After changing into his P.J.'s, Branch spent most of the night staring at his phone, typing, an deleting, messages for Hefty.

_'Hey, about earlier'_

Delete.

_'I didn't mean'_

Delete.

_'I was just really'_

Delete.

_'I'm sorry.'_

Delete.

Dropping his phone next to him, Branch turned to his side. To lost in his thoughts to sleep, his eye caught something sitting on his bedside table.

There, folded neatly, was Hefty's jersey, his letterman jacket hanging next to it on the couch.

Reaching out, Branch grabbed it and held it tightly as he pulled the shirt close to him.  
_______________________

A few days have passed. Branch still has yet to gain the confidence to contact Hefty. Until he does, helping Poppy set up parties and hanging out in the background to lend a hand getting things set up or replenish the sugary treats was a decent distraction.

"You know talking to Hefty would do wonders mate."

Grabbing a large box from the trunk of a car, Branch sighed in annoyance. Poppy promised not to say anything to anyone, but that didn't stop Brainy from blabbing to Creek about Hefty's bad mood.

Brainy connected the dots easily apparently, knowing Hefty's talk about college was going to blow up in his face and filled Creek in on everything.

"Shut up Creek."

Grabbing his own box, Creek followed Branch as they headed back for the building. "I'm just saying, it would help if you didn't just shut everything out. Talking to Hefty would get your aura all cleared up."

Turning around, Branch watched as Creek froze in place from his intense glare. "Honestly Creek, this is none of your damn business! Also, I've had enough of your stupid hippy bullshit you've been spitting out since we were twelve just to get attention! So shut the hell up and leave me the hell-"

Turning back around, Branch stepped on a patch of ice and didn't realize it until his foot slipped. Dropping his own box of decorations Creek grabbed Branch's arm to keep him from slamming his face against the ice cold cement.

_**CRASH!** _

_**CRASH!** _

Stepping outside right when Branch slipped, Poppy gasped in horror at the box of decorations spilling and almost everything in them breaking. "OH NO!"

Now back on his own feet, Branch looked at the mess around him in alarm and looked at Poppy. "Poppy! Oh shit, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to drop-"

Rushing over, Poppy got on her knees to inspect the damage. "Oh man this was almost all the decorations I had!"

Getting down on his own knees, Creek picked up some of the broken items. "We can probably save some of these with a bit glue until we can get new decorations. Lets get these inside and get to work."

Watching Creek and Poppy scooping up what items could be saved, Branch tried again. "Poppy I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Standing up, Poppy looked at Branch. "I know Branch, it was an accident. Don't worry about it."

After Poppy rush inside, Creek got back up and turned to Branch. "You know, maybe your aura might be to dark and dirty to even bother clearing up. If you keep treating people who just want to be nice or be close to you like this then you're going to be a bitter and alone grumpy troll with a gray outlook on life."

Glaring at Creek as he headed inside as well, Branch soon ducked his head and stared down at the small broken remains of the holiday decorations.

Lifting his head up, the grump stared at the building in front of him.

Poppy was the only one who wanted him there, before he ruined the decorations.

No one else wanted him there. He could hear them always saying under their breaths about how he was a kill joy.

Creek already confirmed it, pointing out he was a big asshole to everyone around him.

Now he probably just ruined everything.

What was the point of him staying?

Walking to the nearest bus stop, Branch texted Poppy that he was going home and turned off his phone.

____________________

Closing the front door behind him, Branch removed his snowy shoes before walking onto the carpet.

"BRANCH? THAT YOU?"

"YEAH PEPPY."

Walking to Peppy's home office, the grump watched as Peppy looked over the mountain of work stacked onto his desk. Peppy glanced up quickly before looking back at his work. "Poppy called saying you were on your way home. Is everything alright?"

Leaning against the doorway, Branch half heartedly shrugged. "Sorta. I-"

_Ring ring ring!_

Holding up his hand to Branch, Peppy picked up the phone. "Hello?... Ah yes, I'll get that done right away. Also please call my assistant and tell her to clear my afternoon tomorrow so I can finish my holiday shopping. Thank you."

Hanging up, Peppy looked back a Branch, opening his mouth to speak-

_Ring ring ring!_

Sighing, the Mayor picked up the phone again, looking at Branch apologetically.

"It's fine. It can wait. I'll let you get back to work."

Peppy smiled a little as a thanks before turning back to his call as Branch headed for his Bunker.

Sitting on his couch, Branch sighed tiredly as he turned his phone back on. All of Poppy's messages filled up his phone, and he deleted every one of them without looking at them. Putting his phone in his lap he stared at the ceiling.

Peppy was working his ass off for his two kids. One of which wasn't even his. Just a family friend's child he took pity on.

Probably wasn't even worth it, Branch being such a shit all the time and always getting in trouble.

Probably wasn't even worth it for anyone that dealt with Branch.

Peppy wasting almost all he works for just to support him when he should only be worried about his own daughter.

Poppy wasting her time and efforts trying to make Branch happy and trying to include him with her friends who didn't even want him around.

Hefty wasting everything because for some stupid reason he wanted to date the biggest jerk in Troll Village.

Grandma Rosiepuff wasting her life on her shitty grandson.

Looking at Hefty's jersey and jacket, Branch stared at them for a long time before grabbing both of them and getting to work.

Maybe he can try making everyone a little happy anyways...

________________________

With a bag of food for Christmas in his arm, Papa dug in his jacket pocket for his house key as he walked through the snow towards the house.

The snow was starting to come down quite a bit. At least it would lead to a very beautiful white Christmas this year.

_Crunch!_

Stopping, Papa lifted up his foot to see what he just stepped on. Bending down, he wiped away the snow to revile red wrapping paper wrapped around a lumpy object.

On the wrapping paper, Hefty's name was written on it, along with "From Branch."

Humming curiously, Papa picked it up. He knew of his child's resent relationship problem with Branch, and the two of them have gone quite a while without speaking.

Maybe this present is best opened by Hefty right away.

_______________________

Sighing tiredly, Poppy closed the door behind her as she walked further inside and headed for her room.

This has been party number 7 so far, and the princess of parties was starting to break a sweat.

The stress over the decorations didn't help. Neither did the fact that Branch left early. If she wasn't so worried over the party she would have followed him back home.

It was late now though, Branch was probably asleep already, and her "Branch is upset" sense wasn't going off now. So Poppy decided that first thing in the morning she's check on him.

Opening her bedroom door, Poppy froze at the sight in front of her.

Brand new holiday decorations were neatly organized on her bed, enough to make any party room look AMAZING.

Forgetting her tiredness, Poppy rushed to the bunker excitedly. Not bothering to knock, Poppy threw the door open and rushed down the stairs. "BRANCH YOU ARE TH BEST- Branch?"

Surprised, Poppy looked around the room. Bed neatly made, everything clean and organized, no Branch in sight.

"Branch?"

_Ding!_

Hearing her phone go off, Poppy reached into her pocket and pulled it out. Seeing a message from Branch.

_'Stopped by Hefty's. I love you.'_


	19. Chapter 19

 

In his room, Hefty laid on his bed staring at his phone.

It's been a few days now, and having the time to cool down, the jock was trying to figure out a good way to reach out to Branch.

Sure, what Branch said was pretty uncalled for, but Hefty was kinda pushing him with the whole college thing. Not to mention Branch tried to apologize but Hefty was to mad to hear it at the time.

Now though, he was starting to worry about Branch a bit. Not one text or call in days.

"For the love of- just call him!"

Jumping a little, Hefty looked at Brainy who was looking at him annoyed. "I have no idea what the heck you two argued about, but I can tell not having any form of contact with Branch is driving you crazy. Just, call, him!"

Over on his side of the room, getting tape all over his hands while trying to wrap a present, Clumsy nodded in agreement. "Brainy's right Hefty. I'm sure whatever you guys argued about isn't worth breaking up over."

About to point out that he and Branch aren't going to break up, Hefty stopped when someone knocked on their door. "Come in."

Opening the door, Papa held up something wrapped in red wrapping paper. "I got something for you Hefty. I suggest you open it right away."

Getting up and taking the item, Hefty thanked Papa before going back to his bed.

It was from Branch.

Confused, Hefty ripped the wrapping paper away, ignoring how Clumsy whined a little "Aw, he gets to open his present early?"

Once the paper was gone, the jock looked confused.

He was holding his jersey and letterman jacket, freshly washed and folded.

Why did Branch give these back?

Feeling something hard hidden between the two clothes, Hefty lifted his jersey and saw a picture frame, hand carved with a little smurf and troll in the corner. In the frame was a photo of him and Branch. his large muscular arm around Branch as Branch smiled awkwardly at the camera.

It took Poppy forever to convince Branch to let her take a picture of them.

Next to the frame was a note.

_'Your eyes are as blue as a shiny sapphire_

_stunning and breath taking, a heart's greatest desire._

_Your kindness is something you give in a hurry_

_something of which, I am unworthy._

_My words harsh, you hurt expression facing me_

_Sorry is never a good enough apology._

_So I hope after you read this final letter_

_that some day you can do much better._

_Branch."_

Rereading the letter, Hefty's heart sunk to the pit of his stomach.

Branch thinks Hefty doesn't want to be with him anymore. He had to fix this.

Pulling out his phone, Hefty was about to call Branch when Poppy's number popped onto the screen and her ringtone started playing. Hitting the answer button Hefty put the phone to his ear. "Hey Po-

"IS BRANCH THERE?!"

Pulling the phone away, Hefty switched ears and kept it at a safe distance so his other ear wouldn't start ringing. "No, but I just got his present. Why?"

"He's not home! My Dad and I have been trying to call him but he won't pick up his phone!"

Alarmed, Hefty stood up. "He's not home? Why would he leave in the middle of the night?!"

"I don't know! He came home after breaking some decorations for a charity party, My dad only talked to him for a minute when he came home but hasn't seen him since! He apparently went out and got me new decorations but left again and never came back! All I got was a text from him saying that he was going to see you and that he loves me."

Grabbing his letterman jacket, Hefty rushed out the door of his shared room and started rushing to the front door, not paying attention to Brainy and Clumsy's concerned looks as he left. "I'm going to look for him! I'll call you back if I find anything."

"Okay, good luck Hefty."

Hanging up, Hefty ran outside and through the snow to his car. He quickly dialed Branch's number, only for it to go straight to the voice mail recording Poppy made.

"Heeeey! This is Branch's phone! Say hi Branch!"

"No."

"Aw come on Branch-"

"Leave a message if it's important or buzz off."

"Branch!"

_Beep._

Sighing, Hefty spoke as he started the car. "Branch where are you?! You're freaking everyone out! Look I'm sorry for what I said, just PLEASE pick up!"

Hanging up, Hefty was feeling all kinds of warnings in the pit of his stomach.

Returning his stuff.

Buying Poppy new things then disappearing.

His text to Poppy.

The words Branch used in his poem.

_'this final letter'_

Trying to clear his head, Hefty tried thinking of where Branch would go now of all times as he drove off.

_____________________________

Riding around on the bus all night gave Branch plenty of time to think.

Not like he could think of much, feeling numb, emotionally and physically from the cold. That's what he gets for only wearing his stupid vest and gray hoody.

All he could really think about were his mistakes in life. Being a stupid little brat and singing his head off, yelling and letting out his anger at anyone who tried getting close to him, being an unpleasant asshole to be around at all.

Once the bus stopped at where he wanted to get off, Branch got out of the vehicle and walked. He only paused at the sign in the middle of the snow covered road.

_"Road Closed"_

They always closed this road in the winter, to curvy and to many steep drops to drive on safely with snow and ice.

Ignoring the sign, Branch walked around it. It would take 10-15 minutes by foot to get there.

To pass the time, Branch pulled out his headphones and put them on as he pulled out his music player, mostly full of audio books, he had only a handful of songs.

Once he found what he was looking for, he selected it and put it on repeat.

_"Turn around_   
_Every now and then I get a little bit lonely_   
_And you're never coming 'round"_

__________________________

Pulling his car to a stop, Hefty parked it and got out, looking at the sign.

_"Road Closed"_

Looking up, the jock tried seeing if he could spot Branch in the dark.

He wouldn't have walked all the way there would he?

Looking back down, Hefty noticed the now barely noticeable footprints, getting hidden by the snowfall.

Shit, he would.

Following the footsteps, Hefty pulled out his phone and dialed Branch's number again, groaning in frustration when it went straight to voicemail again. "Branch PLEASE pick up your phone! PLEASE!"

Hanging up, Hefty started running through the snow.

__________________________

His pants up to his knees were soaked and freezing, but Branch couldn't really bring himself to care as he stayed on his knees.

Clearing the snow off the cross, the grump stared at it for a long amount of time.

Pressing his fingers against his cold lips, Branch reached out and touched the cross before getting back up and walking around it. Coming to a stop, Branch looked at the pond.

A think layer of ice coated it.

_"And I need you now tonight"_

hands shoved deep in his pockets, Branch took a deep breath to try calming his nerves.

_"And I need you more then ever"_

"I'm sorry."

_"And if you only hold me tight"_

Barely getting one foot onto the ice, Branch was roughly grabbed by the hoodie and YANKED back.

Falling over onto his butt in the cold snow, Branch groaned. Headphone falling out from being pulled back, he could hear the harsh panting behind him.

Getting grabbed by his shoulders, Branch was quickly spun around by who stopped him.

"Hefty?!"

Still trying to catch his breath, Hefty didn't DARE let go of Branch. "What, where, you, THINKING?! Branch we have been looking for you and calling you none stop! That ice isn't strong enough to hold you up! You could have fallen in! Why would you try walking out there?!"

Looking at Hefty in complete shock, Branch finally pulled his eyes away and looked back at the frozen water.

Chills went through him as if he could finally feel the cold.

Did he really just try walking on the ice?

"Branch answer me! Why did you try walking out there?!"

At first Hefty didn't think Branch would reply to him with how Branch ducked his head down. Not until he felt him shiver in his tight grip.

"I don't deserve anything. My Grandma's dead because of me, Peppy has to work twice as hard because of me, Poppy gives up so much of her time because of me, and you waisted so much of your effort and kindness BECAUSE OF ME! I'm nothing to a burden who hurts everyone in the end! I'm not worth it! I wasn't worth being saved all those years ago!"

Hefty's heart started to hurt, mentally begging Branch not to continue, but what he said next shattered his world.

"I SHOULD HAVE DIED IN THAT CAR CRASH INSTEAD!"

Branch couldn't stop himself when he began to openly sob, covering his face with his ice cold hands so Hefty wouldn't see.

What he didn't expect though, was Hefty pulling him against his chest and wrapping his warm arms around him tightly. His warm, safe, strong arms.

Giving into the warmth, Branch wrapped his shaky cold arms around Hefty, sobbing hard against his chest.

Hugging Branch as if the moment he let go he'd disappear, the jock fought off his own tears. Now is not the time for him to be a mess. He needs to keep it together, and get Branch home where he's safe. Then he can fall apart.

They sat in the show until Branch's sobbing slowed and quieted down. Tears still endlessly rolled down his cheeks, but he was to exhausted to keep sobbing. The lack of sleep from the past few days were starting to come back to haunt him.

Also, even though he was pressed against Hefty's warm body, that didn't stop the fact that Branch was sitting in the snow, with only a hoodie and a thin vest keeping him warm.

Feeling the grump shaking in his arms, Hefty glanced down at him. Even in the dark Hefty could still see that Branch was so cold that his lips were starting to turn blue.

Acting quickly, Hefty quickly removed his letterman jacket and got it on Branch, who didn't fight him at all as he did so. "Come on, I'm taking you home."

Branch didn't say a word, staying quiet as Hefty gathered him up in his arms and stood up, carrying him away bride style. All Branch did was curl up against Hefty's warm body, tears continuing to slide down his face and soak into Hefty's jacket.

Halfway through the walk back to Hefty's car, Branch's eyelids grew to heavy for him to keep open and finally slipping away into peaceful darkness. Feeling Hefty give him a squeeze before he fell asleep.


	20. Chapter 20

To say Peppy and Poppy were alarmed when Hefty told them what happened was a big understatement.

Branch stayed asleep the whole trip home, only somewhat waking up when Hefty got him out of the car and he wrapped his arms around his shoulders, clinging to his warmth.

How much sleep did Branch get after their fight? When Hefty found Branch he looked like he didn't sleep well at all.

Once Hefty carried Branch downstairs and put him down in bed, Peppy tucked his adopted son in and gently rubbed his head of messy black hair.

When Hefty explained everything, and told them what Branch said, they reacted as well as he expected. Poppy cried, and Peppy got that look on his face that Papa would get when something serious happens and he's trying to keep his emotions in check while figuring out what to do.

Poppy stayed in the bunker with Branch, while Peppy went to make a few phone calls to cancel a few things he had to do for work. Hefty made his own phone call in the privacy in the guest bedroom upstairs.

"Hello?"

"Hey Papa."

"Hefty, is Branch okay? Brainy and Clumsy told me that you ran off to look for him."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Hefty rubbed his hand over his eyes. "Yeah, I found him. He's okay, physically anyways. He might get a little sick from being out in the cold so long though."

"Why in the world was he out in the cold?"

Hefty didn't answer, he wasn't sure if he could answer.

"Hefty? Are you okay?"

".... Can you come over here? Can you also bring Smurfette? Poppy may need her."

"I'll be right there."

Once the two of them hung up, Hefty stayed sitting in the guest room alone.

He was told this use to be Branch's bedroom before he moved to the basement when he was 10. He couldn't stand Poppy's loud music always blasting through the wall apparently.

Glancing around, he found a picture sitting on the side table. It was of Peppy, Poppy, and Branch when they were younger on a fishing trip.

Branch was trying to shield himself from the camera. He always hated getting his picture taken.

Rubbing at his eyes again, Hefty thought over everything that just happened.

Did Branch really think he didn't deserve anything good in his life? Did he really think he didn't deserve to be alive?

What kind of boyfriend was he for letting Branch think like that?

_________________________

When Papa and Smurfette arrived, Smurfette quickly went downstairs to talk to Poppy while Hefty talked to Papa in the living room.

Papa had that deep thought look on his face the whole time, brushing his fingers through his beard as he listened closely to his foster son.

When Hefty was done, Papa finally spoke. "It's a good thing you knew there to look Hefty. You did very good."

Hefty had his elbows resting in his knees as he sat hunched over. "Doesn't really feel like it. He wouldn't have been there if we didn't get into that stupid fight."

"Schtroumpf Costaud you listen to me and you listen good young man."

Hefty lifted his head up and looked at his Papa, mostly being called his French name when getting into trouble. Papa looked at him with a very stern face. "YOU, didn't make Branch do what he did. He was struggling even before you met him. Do you think Branch would want you to blame yourself for that?"

"No... But if I just-"

Papa cut him off. "You had no idea he felt the way he did because he didn't tell you. He also didn't tell Peppy or Poppy. You can't blame yourself for any of this."

Resting his hands on his foster son's arms, Papa gave him a reassuring smile. "Branch is going to be okay because of you. He'll get the help he needs, and the love he needs. Everything will be okay."

Pulling Hefty in a tight hug, Papa rubbed his back as his foster son hugged back and pressing his face on his shoulder.

___________________

The moment Smurfette came downstairs, she wordlessly hugged Poppy, already seeing how upset her girlfriend was and how badly she needed a hug.

Poppy hugged back, not taking her eyes off of Branch who was snuggled up in bed, deeply asleep. "...I'm a terrible sister."

Pulling away a little, Smurfette brushed away some of Poppy's hair from her girlfriend's face. "No you're not Poppy."

Sniffling, the girl in pink rubbed at her eyes. "Yes I am. I should have known something was wrong. He told me about the argument but I didn't know he felt this bad about his life. He felt like he was messing up my life, and I let him feel like that."

"He never told you, you had no way of knowing he felt this way."

"I choose a stupid party over him... If I just forgot about those damned decorations he wouldn't have- Smurfette he almost-..."

Hugging Poppy tighter, Smurfette tried to ignore the ache in her chest. Papa told her that Branch was okay, but something happened that scared everyone. Even Hefty.

She was hoping it wouldn't be as bad as this. "You didn't choose a party over him. You love Branch with all your heart. If you had a choice between Branch's happiness and throwing parties, what would you choose?"

Trying to clear her cheeks of tears, Poppy didn't even hesitate. "Branch's happiness."

Smurfette smiled and kissed Poppy's forehead. "Exactly. All you want to do is make sure everyone is happy, which is why you throw so many charity parties this time of year. You want people who have a hard time to enjoy the holidays. I'm positive if you knew, you'd stop and give Branch the most loving hug you can give."

Sighing, Poppy continued to look at Branch as he slept. "I still could have done a better job at being a sister..."

Thinking about something for a moment, Smurfette spoke up. "You're probably a better sister then me."

When Poppy looked at her confused, Smurfette continued. "I was 10 when I was dropped off at the Smurf home. I wasn't really happy about it. I was mean to everyone, messing up their stuff, breaking their toys, I even made Clumsy cry once for throwing his favorite rock into a river. Still regret it."

The blond smiled a little. "But Papa and Willow never gave up on me. They were patient and loving, eventually winning my trust. I was a pretty rotten sister to everyone at first, did a lot of things that shouldn't have been forgiven, but everyone still loves me despite all the bad things I did."

Smurfette looked at Poppy, staring into her pink eyes. "You did nothing like that to Branch, you annoyed him yes, but you never did anything to hurt him on purpose. I bet you when Branch is up later, if I ask him how amazing of a sister you are he'd say you're the best."

Smiling a bit, Poppy giggled as her girlfriend kissed her cheek. "Thanks Smurfette. I'm sure your family would say the same about you."

A few minutes later Hefty came downstairs. Sitting down on the edge of Branch's bed, the jock reached out and brushed some of Branch's hair away from his face. He felt warmer, which was good considering his skin felt like ice earlier. "He stay asleep while I was up there?"

Poppy nodded. "Yeah. We should all probably go to sleep now actually. It's almost 2 a.m."

Looking at Branch's clock to confirm the time, Hefty agreed and moved to get off the bed when Poppy stopped him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Um, to the floor?"

Poppy shook her head as she and Smurfette got comfy on Branch's couch. "Not on my watch. Branch could use a teddy bear right now."

Surprised by Poppy suggesting he sleep on Branch's bed, Hefty looked back at his boyfriend then back at Poppy. "Are you sure he'd be okay with that? Especially after our-"

"Trust me Hefty, he'd be thrilled to see you the moment he wakes up. Good night."

Bidding both girls a good night, Hefty looked at Branch a moment longer before finally laying down next to him.

He spent most of the time looking at Branch. Seeing how relaxed he was in his sleep, and watching how his chest moved every time he took a breath.

If he had been a minute later-

Squeezing his eyes shut, Hefty tried pushing that thought out of his head. Everything is okay right now, and they're going to get better later.

But they could have been worse, and that's what scares him.

Opening his eyes again, Hefty moved around until he had his arms wrapped protectively around Branch. Not waking up, Branch let out a small sigh and slightly curled up against Hefty.

Ignoring the tears finally rolling down his cheeks, Hefty kissed Branch's forehead before settling down to try to get some rest.

Branch deserved to be happy.

Hefty planned on being there to help him be happy.


	21. Chapter 21

 

First thing that crossed Branch's mind, was him wondering why the HELL he was to god damn warm. He didn't feel this warm before falling asleep. He actually remembers feeling pretty cold when Hefty-

Eyes snapping open, Branch blinked in the darkness.

Was that all just a really bad dream, or did he really almost do what he thought he did?

Hearing a soft snore, Branch hesitated before lifting his head, noticing how he felt somewhat heavier then usual as he started moving. In bed with him, was Hefty with his arms around him. On his couch were Poppy and Smurfette sleeping away as well.

....SHIT.

Flopping his head down, Branch rubbed his face. He REALLY almost did that. If Hefty didn't stop him, he'd be burning in hell at this very moment... If his Grandma didn't drag him out of there to punish him herself for throwing his life away.

Pulling his hands away from his face, Branch looked at himself confused when he felt he was wearing something. He vaguely remembered Hefty putting his letterman jacket on him, he's surprised though that he left it on him.

Looking back at his boyfriend, eyes now better adjusted to the dark, he could now see Hefty's face clearly.

The sight of the tear stained cheeks broke Branch's heart. The tight protective grip Hefty has on him in his sleep becoming more obvious.

Branch sighed and pressed his head against the jock's chest.

Why does he keep hurting him like this?

Feeling Hefty move, Branch froze. Hefty slightly sat up and rubbed his eyes with one arm, the other still holding onto the grump, waking up more when he noticed how stiff Branch felt. "Branch? You awake?"

"... Yeah."

Sitting up more, Hefty kept Branch against his chest, hugging him tightly. "God Branch, you scared the shit out of everyone. Are you okay?"

Branch opened his mouth to answer, but then he stopped when he realized that he actually didn't really have one. "I, don't know..."

Hefty sighed before glancing at the girls real quick. "I wanted to talk to you, but it might have to wait until later. I don't want to wake the girls. Smurfette's a heavy sleeper but I don't know about Poppy."

The grump shrugged slightly. "As long as we talk quietly Poppy will stay asleep. She could sleep through a tornado actually. So if you want us to talk we can."

Well, as long as he insisted they could talk, then they were going to talk.

Shifting around, Hefty had Branch sit so they can both look at each other face to face, both holding hands. "Branch... I'm sorry. I never meant to pressure you like that just to go to the same stupid school as me. I was just frustrated that you wanted to stay here more then come with me to the ends of the earth."

Hefty started to rub his thumbs against the back of Branch's hands. "I dumped all of that on you, and made it seem like I didn't care about what you wanted to do or how you feel over everything. If you want to stay in Troll Village that's fine, I'll go to a closer school, if you want to go to another school that's okay too."

Taking a deep breath, Hefty looked Branch in the eyes. "I never meant to make you feel like I didn't want to be with you anymore. What you said did hurt but I care about you more then anything... So I need to understand, why did you do all of this?"

Fighting back the lump in his throat, Branch looked away, unable to stare into those hurt eyes. "... I don't know. I didn't think about it at first, I just wanted get away from everyone. I keep doing a bunch of bull shit that hurts people, so if I just, disappeared, maybe it would stop."

Branch turned his gaze down towards their hands. "But when I left your place, I sat on the bus for a while thinking about everything. Everyone I hurt and make them waist their time. I just went, numb... The only thing I could think of was to go to the pond... If I was gone for good everyone would stop wasting their time on me."

Everything went quiet for a few moments. Hefty soon cupped Branch's chin and tilted his head up until he was looking at him. "You don't hurt anyone on purpose or waist anyone's time Branch. All the time I spent with you was never waisted, my time apart from you is."

Tears slipped down Branch's cheeks. "I'm so sorry for what I said."

Hefty used his thumb to brush away the tears. "I love you to much to stay upset at you over that."

Branch's eyes widened in shock at Hefty's words.

He just said the big L word.

Should he say it back?

"I-I, I lo-"

 

Gently covering Branch's mouth, Hefty smiled a little. "You don't have to say it right now. Say it when you're ready okay?"

Relaxing a little, Branch nodded before moving to hug his boyfriend, who gladly hugged back. "... So what's going to happen now? I'm assuming Peppy and Poppy know."

Hefty glanced at the ceiling as if he could see upstairs. "They do. Peppy and my Papa talked and are trying to find a way for you to get some help to handle your problems better. With my lucky guess, you might end up talking to one of my older bros that moved out a few years ago. He's a therapist."

Branch grunted a little against Hefty's chest in response. Talking to a shrink sounded better then some other options he could think of. "How many people know?"

"Well other then everyone here, Brainy and Clumsy were in the room when Poppy called me freaking out, and Papa probably told Willow."

Feeling Branch going a little tense in his arms, Hefty kissed his head to get him to relax. "Don't worry, Papa and Willow will talk to those two later so they don't tell anyone."

Branch sighed a little in relief. The last think he needed was for the whole town to spread rumors about the mayor's adopted brat being emotionally unstable or whatever. "Thanks... Do you want your jacket back?"

The jock shook his head. "Nah, you hold onto it, looks better on you. I'll also give you my jersey again during my next game."

Nodding, Branch's eyes started growing heavy again. It was still quite some time until the sun comes up and the grump was still pretty damn tired.

Giving his boyfriend another kiss on the head, Hefty started pulling the two of them back down to lay on the bed. "Sleep well Branch. When you wake up I'll be right here."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Love you."

Snuggling against Hefty, Branch closed his eyes again to go back to sleep. The warmth from earlier feeling much more comfortable.

___________________

The next morning when everyone was awake, Hefty and Smurfette gave Poppy, Peppy, and Branch some alone time in the bunker so they could talk things out.

Poppy didn't even wait for Hefty to move, she jumped right over him to get to Branch and give him the tightest hug she could and smother his face in strawberry cupcake lip gloss kisses.

Branch didn't object as he usually did, he hugged Poppy back and let her kiss and cry all over him as Peppy came downstairs and joined the hug. Once the hug ended the talk started.

The conversation lasted over an hour. Once it was done Peppy came back upstairs and Hefty and Smurfette went back downstairs while their Papa headed home so he could help get ready for Christmas.

While they all sat together enjoying a marathon of the Dreamworks movie collection Poppy had, Branch lifted his head from where it was resting on Hefty's shoulder and looked at his boyfriend. "Hey, isn't it Christmas Eve today? Don't you guys want to head home to spend Christmas with your family?"

Hefty and Smurfette looked at each other before shaking their heads, Hefty speaking up. "Papa said we can spend it here this year if we wanted to."

The Grump turned a little more so he could face his boyfriend better. "But don't you want to be with everyone during the holidays?"

Wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, the jock kissed his cheek. "There's always next year, besides, I would love to spend Christmas with you."

Glancing at Poppy, she seemed to have the same look as he did on her face.

No way were they going to let Hefty and Smurfette miss out on Christmas with their family.

_____________________

Snoring softly, Hefty started slowly waking up when he felt something shake his shoulder. "Five more minutes..."

"Hefty you better wake up before I throw a pillow at your face."

Grunting, the jock rolled over and blinked a few times. "Branch? When did you get up?"

Standing over his sleepy boyfriend, wearing Hefty's jacket, Branch chuckled. "A while ago. Now get ready, we all let you sleep in for a little bit longer as we got everything set up."

Sitting up, Hefty swung his legs over the edge of the bed before getting to his feet. "Where are we going?"

Going through his dresser, Branch grabbed his more baggier clothes and threw them at Hefty who caught them easily. "We're going to your place for Christmas."

Now wide awake, Hefty looked at Branch in surprise. "Really? Does Smurfette know?"

Branch nodded. "Yeah, we told her when she woke up. Now get dressed, I figured you'd want some clean clothes to wear for today."

"Are you sure you're okay with this Branch?"

Smiling a little, Branch walked over to Hefty and kissed him on the lips. "I'm sure. Now get ready. I'll wait upstairs."

Grinning from the kiss, Hefty watched his boyfriend travel up the stairs. This is going to be the best Christmas ever.


	22. Chapter 22

 

The moment the five of them walked in through the front door, Branch found himself being hugged by Clumsy.

Caught completely by surprise, Branch's arms hovered over the younger teen, not really sure how to react to this.

Brainy walked over with a few things in his arms. "He was worried about you. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone unless you say it's okay"

Looking down at Clumsy, Branch lowered his arms and awkwardly patted his back. Seeming to be satisfied with the hug, Clumsy let go and smiled at him. "I'm glad you guys are joining us for Christmas."

Poppy smiled excitedly and held out the presents she and Peppy got. "No problem! We brought some extra presents, old toys Branch and I had that have been collecting dust."

Walking up to them, Papa chuckled and collected some of the gifts from Poppy's arms. "Why thank you. That's very kind of you. Lets bring this into the livingroom."

As Poppy, Peppy, Clumsy, and Papa walked to the livingroom, Branch, Hefty, and Brainy hung back a little bit. Shuffling around nervously, Brainy held out what he was holding. "Creek keeps giving me these aroma therapy candles. I have a few to spare so I thought you'd like some."

Taking them, Branch looked them over before looking back at Brainy. "Thanks Brainy. Come on, Poppy's probably about ready to burst waiting for the younger kids to open the presents."

The rest of the day went along very well. Everyone was having an amazing time, and they all had such a Christmas feast that No one would be able to eat until tomorrow without bursting.

Poppy had brought along her Just Dance game and set it up for everyone to play, and Branch actually enjoyed watching Hefty trying to out dance Blossom at a rather energetic song, and getting his butt handed to him.

Everyone started cheering when it was Papa and Willow's turn, both of them dancing together like there was no tomorrow.

During all of that, at one point Branch ended up with Baby in his lap during Grouchy's turn. The little guy was happy sitting in the grump's lap playing with his fingers and then falling asleep on him.

Branch tried his best not to move around to much as Hefty sat next to him, chuckling. "Well look at you, you're a natural with babies."

Rolling his eyes, Branch kept his voice quiet so he wouldn't disturb Baby's sleep. "Yeah, when they're not awake. Lets not forget how bad our last attempt to babysit this little monster went. We both nearly got grounded for a month."

The memory returning, Hefty scratched at his head. "I still don't get how he got out of his play pen and all the way outside."

As the two of them talked, Willow approached them with a gift bag in her hand. She chuckled at the sight of Branch with Baby in his arms. "Want to trade?"

Looking up at her, Branch shrugged and carefully handed Baby over to Willow and took the bag she was offering to him. He looked at the gift bag and saw his name on it. Willow gave a warm smile. "Well go on. Open it."

Doing as she said, Branch removed the tissue paper and took out what was inside.

He was holding a doll. A blue troll doll with dark hair, a green vest, pathed up brown pants, and on it's face was a smirk stitched onto it. "...Is this me?"

Willow nodded. "Gray didn't seem like the right color for your troll doll. It may be what's on the outside, but to me, blue is your true color. Do you like it?"

Looking back down at the little doll, Branch smiled a little. "Yeah. It's pretty cool. Thanks Willow."

After giving Branch a small hug, Willow left to go lay Baby down for his nap. Hefty looked at the doll with a smile. "She got your smirk perfectly."

Branch chuckled a little. "She kinda did. Very impressive."

Wrapping his arms around Branch, Hefty kissed the side of his face. "I'm really glad you're here celebrating with us."

Sinking into Hefty's hold, Branch sighed peacefully. "I'm glad I'm here too."

The rest of the day went on wonderfully. Everyone opening their presents, playing the games Poppy set up, and enjoying the holiday feast until they all felt like they were going to pop.

Neither Branch or Hefty left each others side, spending their first Christmas together, and happy.

A long road may be before them, but they're in it together, and that's all that matters to them now.

________________________

_Over a year later._

Hefty sat in his car down the street from the high school. He was attending the college Brainy went to, Bergen U.

Weird school, a good chunk of the people there looked like they hated their lives, but he got a good sport scholarship to go there and he wasn't going to give it up.

The only down side was Brainy being a bit of a pain in the butt and checking up on Hefty to make sure he did his school work. At least he had the best intensions at heart, wanting to make sure his older bro was doing okay after moving out.

Hefty does admit, he misses sharing his room with his two little bros. Now he gets why his older foster siblings always come by for a visit as often as possible.

He's pretty glad he didn't go to a far away school actually, just a short drive from seeing everyone again and chasing the homesickness away.

Right now he was back at the high school to pick up Branch so they could go on a date. They've been doing this often so they could see each other as much as they can until Branch graduates.

Since that one Christmas break, Branch has been doing better. Talking to Hefty's older therapist bro was helping out a lot, learning to not keeping things bubbled up and how to open up more with others, Branch was starting to become a bit happier.

He still had his bad days, he'd never stop missing his grandma, and he'd have a hard time feeling happy sometimes, but at least he'd try to go to others when things got difficult.

He smiled a bit more, he tried hanging out with the Snack Pack too, and if Hefty listened closely, he could swear he hears Branch humming quietly.

It's the most amazing thing in the world to his ears.

Glancing over when the passenger door open, Hefty's greeting to his boyfriend caught in his throat and stared as Branch got in, surprised at what he saw.

Putting in his seatbelt, Branch glanced up at his boyfriend. Blushing, he ran his fingers through his now blue bangs. "Poppy finally wore me down... Then she got blue dye all over my hoody. This blue shirt was the only clean one I had."

Chuckling, the jock leaned over and gave Branch a kiss. "Looks good on you. Ready?"

Branch smiled as he leaned over and rested his head on Hefty's shoulder where his heart tattoo was. "Ready... Can you turn on some music?"

Doing as Branch asked, Hefty turned on the radio as he started to drive, smiling a little at the song that began to play.

_"But I see your true colors_

_Shining through_

_I see your true colors_

_And that's why I love you"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End.
> 
> This may be the end of the Main Story, but I still have ideas I'm going to write into one shots and post in this fic.
> 
> So even if it's marked as complete, I'm still going to update it now and then. I hope all of you enjoyed. :D


	23. extra chapter 1

Branch tried his best not to cringe when Poppy literally screamed in his ear when their school team won the game at the last minute.

He was at another school game Hefty was playing, his letterman jacket hanging loosely over his shoulders. The grump tried his best not to laugh as his boyfriend and his teammates were being show offs due to their victory.

Hefty's always been an overly happy show off, not crazy happy like Poppy (thank god), but very happy.

He made Branch feel happier too, and Branch thought he didn't know how to be happy, let alone smile. But then Hefty showed up in his life, both of them stuck in the princaple's office and Hefty offering Branch a tissue for his bloody nose.

Branch rolled his eyes a little at that memory. Nothing says romantic first meeting like trying to stop blood dripping from your own nose.

Well, better meeting in the office then never meeting at all. That's for sure.

Once everyone at the game started to clear out and head home, The Snackpack and the few Smurf home siblings that came stayed behind to wait for Hefty. Poppy always insisted on throwing a party every time their team won, or lost, or tied.

She just loved any excuse to throw a party.

Walking out of the locker room in a new change of clothes, Hefty smiled when he saw everyone waiting for him. "Hey, enjoy the game?"

Poppy squealed excitedly. "IT WAS AWESOME!"

Creek nodded in agreement. "Quite enjoyable."

"I love you, ready to pick up the pizza?"

Everyone dramatically gasped, Smidge muttering a "Oh my God!" in shock while Hefty stared.

Branch looked at everyone, confused at their reactions. "What?"

Snapping out of his shock first Hefty's smile started to grow bigger from pure joy. "You love me?"

Remembering what he actually said, Branch's face turned a deep shade of red. "IT! I LOVED IT! The game! That's what I meant!"

"DENYAL!"

"POPPY ZIP IT!"

Taking slight pity on Branch, who looked about ready to combust from embarrassment, Creek chuckled and started shooing everyone away while he wrapped his arm around Brainy. "Come on now, lets head to the party while the two love birds sort this out."

Brainy scoffed and muttered under his breath. "That might take all night."

With everyone heading out the door the two boys finally had some privacy in the empty hallway of the school.

Seeing his boyfriend still wearing that big goofy smile on his face, Branch sighed and tried covering his own blushing face with his hand. "That's not exactly how I wanted to tell you that..."

His smile staying firmly in place Hefty wrapped his arms around Branch. "I don't care, you said you love me! This is one  of the best days of my life!"

Branch ignored how his boyfriend still smelled from the game and looked at him confused. "First of all you stink like hell. Second of all, one of? What are the others?"

"When you say yes to me proposing to you, us getting married, bringing home the first out of a dozen little kids to call our own, etc. I got waaaaay more best days for that list, wanna hear them all?"

Wondering if it's possible for him to blush more then he already is, Branch laughed a little. "At least wait until we're both done with high school before you try proposing."

Hefty hummed happily as he gave Branch a kiss on the cheek. "No promises. Poppy gave me your ring size."

"Dear God Poppy..."

Laughing, Hefty let go of Branch from the hug and grabbed his hand instead. "I'm not in the mood for a party anymore. You?"

Branch raised an eyebrow. "Do you really have to ask?"

"Fair point... Hey, I love you."

"...I love you too."

Later that night Poppy ended up getting a bunch of prepaid pizzas delivered to her house for the party. Neither Hefty or Branch ever showed up.

Oh well, they're probably to busy having their own fun anyways. "PIZZA'S HERE!"


End file.
